Gillette sixth graders come out swinging for living wax museum

GILLETTE — “You gotta have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we’re playing a game,” Carter Nuzum recited. “It’s our job but I don’t think you can do well unless you’re having fun.
 
“I’m Derek Jeter, I was a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees.”
 
The sixth grader went on to describe how many home runs Jeter hit throughout his heavily decorated career, although he never did earn a most valuable player award.
 
Carter said he chose Jeter as his character for his school project because of his love for sports. Although he’s not a steadfast Yankees fan, Carter said he enjoyed learning about how Jeter overcame his struggles to make it into Major League Baseball.
 
And on Friday, Carter gave his brief presentation on the major-league player to anyone who stopped at his station in Stocktrail Elementary School.
 
About 70 sixth graders took time that afternoon to put their months of work to the test, presenting their finalized presentations to parents and grandparents making their way through the living wax museum. The students, many of whom dressed as the character they embodied, stood beside their station until someone passing by pressed a button students created as part of the project.
 
Depending on which button was pressed, the sixth graders would then give a monologue about their character in Spanish or English.
 
Dominic Estrada gave his report on George Lucas, well-known filmmaker of the “Star Wars” series. Dominic said he chose Lucas because of his love for the movies but didn’t know the celebrity was in a critical car accident that changed the trajectory of his life. Lucas had initially dreamed of becoming a racecar driver but the crash caused him to rethink that career option.
 
Dominic said he learned a lot from studying Lucas.
 
“It was very interesting to hear that he failed so many times but he pushed on and he succeeded,” the 11-year-old said, “matter of fact, before, his friends didn’t even believe he could make it.”
 
Anderson Ostlund also learned about perseverance through his character Ernest Shackleton. The Irish explorer bested the cold as he led expeditions across the Antarctic. Anderson said he picked Shackleton for one specific reason.
 
“I picked someone I knew nothing about so I could learn something,” the 12-year-old said.
 
He said he wouldn’t have followed Shackleton’s path because Antarctica is “too cold,” but enjoyed putting his poster together, even though the essays were hard. His favorite part was creating the buttons passersby pushed to begin the monologues.
 
Anderson’s buttons were a mixture of Popsicle sticks and glue, along with rubber bands so the buttons bounced back when pressed.
 
Amanda Bailey, one of the school’s sixth grade teachers, said the project-based learning brought together a number of skills and standards for students. The buttons included STEM methods, writing skills were met through the Spanish and English essays and public speaking was addressed through the monologues.
 
“I like project-based learning,” Bailey said. “I feel like we can learn a lot of standards but also a lot of life skills.”
 
Renajayne Melton was overcoming the discomfort of public speaking as Maya Angelou, the American author and poet. Renajayne said the difficulty for her stemmed when she had to give her presentation in Spanish because she doesn’t speak the language at home.
 
“I didn’t know who (Maya) was,” Renajayne said. “But my favorite thing to learn was that she fell in love with poetry because she was writing her feelings and thoughts down.”
 
Lily Wilson, who portrayed Dr. Seuss, believed her speech was easier to memorize because all of the lines were set to a rhyme. Her favorite line was the very first she’d say to guests passing by.
 
“I am Dr. Seuss, Dr. Seuss I am. I like green eggs and ham, but writing children’s books is my jam,” she quipped.
 
And Emmanuel Diaz took some of the information he learned growing up in the Catholic faith and applied it to his monologue and essay for his representation of Jesus. He was dressed up in robes his mom bought to complete the act and said his favorite part was having his friends help him when the project became tough.
 
“If you needed help, they’d try and help you,” he said.
 
This story was published on March 5, 2024.