Shady Side Academy students create 'wax museum' of famous figures

History came alive during Shady Side Academy Country Day School’s annual Second Grade Wax Museum.

Second graders dressed in costume as a famous person and posed as their wax figure in front of a poster board exhibit. Visitors to the museum pushed a button at the exhibit to hear each wax figure come to life and give a speech about themselves.

This year’s wax figures included: artist Frida Kahlo, baseball player Babe Ruth, rock climber Ashima Shiraisi, gymnast Simone Biles, zoologist Joan Procter, baseball player Roberto Clemente, Egyptian pharaoh King Tut, animator Walt Disney, football player Dan Marino, mathematician Katherine Johnson, astronaut Neil Armstrong, primatologist Jane Goodall, Vice President Kamala Harris, magician Harry Houdini, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, fashion designer Vera Wang and scientist Marie Curie.

The Wax Museum project tied into the second grade biography writing unit. Students read a biography from the school library, researched the subject’s life and used their research to write a first-person script. They memorized the script and created the exhibit and presented themselves as their character.

The second grade teachers are Anne Shelby and Sarah Kintner.