BY KARISSA MILLER

Students from Cool Spring Elementary School took on the life of historical figures as part of the school’s annual North Carolinian Wax Museum Day on Friday.

Fourth-graders, who were dressed up as wax depictions of historical figures they researched, came to life with a push of a “button” on their hand.

Leah Johnson, Emmalyn Blackwelder and Sydney Lloyd dressed up as U.S. elite gymnast Kristie Phillips, who owns of gymnastics training center in Iredell County.

“I thought it would be cool to do Kristie Phillips because she is the owner of KPAC and she coaches me,” said Lloyd.

“She was in the Olympics and won the all-around title in the U.S. Championship,” Blackwelder added.

Other famous North Carolinians who made an appearance at the museum were aviator Orville Wright, basketball great Michael Jordan and NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

Each year, the entire school body visits the wax museum, and the school opens the doors for families to visit, too.

Grandparent Linda Owens came to see her grandson Cooper Owens, who was dressed up as Cooper Webb, an American professional Motocross and Supercross racer.

“Cooper was actually named after Cooper Webb. His dad did Motocross,” his grandma explained.

She was proud of her grandson’s project.

“I enjoyed his presentation. He was very knowledgeable and I noticed that all of the students made good eye contact. I even learned some stuff,” she said.

Fourth-grade teacher Mandy Harrington said that this is event is a student favorite each year.

“This is a 20-plus year tradition. All of our fourth-graders research a famous North Carolinian. We study North Carolina history. While there’s lot of wax museums, we put our own spin on it that was either born in North Carolina or famous for something in North Carolina,” Harrington said.

After researching for a few weeks, each student then puts together a brief speech. They can put their speech on a small index card or memorize it for the Museum Day.

Harrington said that many of the fourth-graders at the school opt to memorize their speech because it gives them a sense of pride over their work.

In addition, students create a timeline and complete a display containing information that they learned about their famous North Carolinian.

Harrington said the project integrates social studies, N.C. history, research, and writing and exposes students to public speaking.

Principal Jennifer Dalton said she’s proud of all the fourth-graders. As she walked through the museum, she was happy to see the students’ “enthusiasm for learning” on display.

“This is a great hands-on learning experience for our students and use of 21st century skills,” Dalton said.

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