BY KARSSA MILLER

N.B. Mills Elementary School students brought a diverse group of historical figures to life on Thursday.

Fourth-graders, who were dressed up as individuals they researched, stood still and came to life when a guest stepped on a “button” on the floor.

Student Maliyah Heaggans dressed up as Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks.

Heaggans wore a suit resembling what Parks was wearing when she was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus during segregation. This act of civil disoedience initiated the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott.

“My mom always wanted to meet her, and I thought it would be cool to learn about her,” Heaggans explained.

Rosa Parks is important because “she refused to give up her seat so that now everyone can sit anywhere on the bus,” she added.

Other famous individuals making an appearance included Blackbeard, Orville Wright, Kobe Bryant and Neil Armstrong.

Natalie Aguilar, who was dressed up as Selena Quintanilla, said she learned that Selena made more than $5 million as a singer.

“I love music and she’s an artist,” Aguilar explained.

Jonn Garcia, who donned a bright orange NASA jumpsuit, knows that Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon.

“I didn’t know that much about him, but I was surprised to learn he had a military career,” Garcia explained.

This is the second year N.B. Mills has presented its wax museum project.

“We had parents and community members this morning and every grade in the school gets to come and see it,” said teacher Paula Hamlett.

New this year was an autobiography book. Students made an audio recording on their iPad of their speech and a reflection board for guests to share what they learned.

“We’ve got people from all over the world in our wax museum. We have a lot of historical diversity,” said teacher Ali Martinez.

Martinez remembers doing a similar project as a student. It teaches students public speaking, research, spelling and many other skills.

“I am 25 and I remember my wax museum. It’s something that will be with students, and they will always remember,” Martinez explained.

After researching their historical figure for a few weeks, each student put together a brief speech. They can read their speech or play the audio recording.

In addition, students created a timeline and completed a display containing information that they
learned about their historical figure.

“I’m so proud of our students. Many of them came up with their costumes on their own and put their own creativity into it,” Hamlett said.

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