Each year, third graders at Hinckley Big Rock Elementary participate in a biography research project called The Wax Museum. This has been a beloved tradition for over a decade. The Wax Museum Project is special for many reasons. To begin with, it is an important opportunity for us to learn about the life stories of various people, from inventors to activists, performers, scientists, athletes, and many more! Students choose a person to study and then participate in an eight-week-long research project where they gather as much knowledge as possible about their person of interest by reading books and viewing videos, with a culmination celebration of reciting a speech from memory about their famous person’s life.
What we have learned from this project is that everyone has a story to tell and that there is something to be learned from every experience. Students love hearing and reading a great story, especially a true one! It's important for students to hear and learn from the life experiences of others. Reading biographies enables them to empathize with others' challenges and celebrate their achievements. By listening to different experiences, students can learn from others' mistakes and use that knowledge to aim for better outcomes in their own lives. Stories leave a lasting impression and inspire action more effectively than mere facts and figures. Throughout this project, students do more than recount the lives of notable individuals; they connect on a personal level, reflect on their own experiences in comparison, and develop curiosity about how they can shape the world through their words and actions, contemplating their own legacy.
This is why we are so passionate about our third graders participating in our annual Wax Museum project.
Despite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being arrested twenty-nine times, he never gave up on the fight for equality. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Steve Harvey waited twenty-eight years for his dream to be on TV to come true. Storytelling also helps us to realize we are not alone in our adversities and that there is always a way to persevere through them. Success doesn’t come easy and doesn’t happen overnight. It may take years of hard work for goals to be achieved! Every person in our Wax Museum demonstrated persistent grit to overcome hardships and displayed an unwavering amount of courage and determination in their own way. If they can do it, then so can the students of HBRES.
“There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.”
-Jimmy Neil Smith
By Chania O’Donnell, Maggie McConnaughay, and Katie Claypool
Third Grade Team at HBRES
