Some special guests visited Sullivan Village Elementary School recently. Mary Bethune was there, along with George Washington Carver, Katherine Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Serena Williams, Sojourner Truth, Beyonce and Muhammad Ali. And don’t forget Michael Jackson, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks and SZA.
The famous and not-so-famous were all part of the Sullivan Village Living History Museum and were portrayed by third, fourth and fifth graders who had researched each character before creating a display about them. Each group of students who worked on a display set them up in the cafeteria so other students and parents could view the living history museum. Students were prepared to tell the “museum visitors” a little about their character.
Students also were encouraged to dress like their character and many did, including multiple Michael Jacksons. Gulianna Mayers, who was dressed in black pants, white T-shirt and black hat, said no, she could not dance like Michael Jackson but she might could sing a little. Rylie Anderson, who also was a Michael Jackson, tried a few dance steps, but did not attempt to sing. A third Michael Jackson, also dressed in black pants, white T-shirt and black hat, was spotted strolling through the crowd.
The living history museum project was the idea of third grade teacher Donna Jennings. She said an assistant principal mentioned the idea last year, and Jennings ran with it this year.
“We normally do a regular program (for Black History Month) so I thought, let’s do something different,” said Jennings, who said her fellow educators were all in on the project. Jennings said students spent about two weeks on the project, with the librarians providing research assistance.
So classes didn’t duplicate personalities, each grade level took a different topic — inventors, musicians and athletes — and teams of students worked together on the presentations.
“Because so many people have contributed to our world, I wanted the students to see the wonderful history lesson from them. Everybody is getting something out of this. They are learning to research and are working with someone so they are learning to get along,” Jennings said.
A day before the presentations, the third graders in her class had their science boards spread out all around the classroom as they glued and stapled facts about their person to the boards. A team consisting of Kyrin Reese and Jared Midkiff were working on a presentation about George Washington Carver.
Reese said Carver was a faculty member at Iowa State University and was an ag scientist and inventor who was best known for his work with peanuts. Carver is credited with inventing 125 products made with sweet potatoes and about 300 products made with peanuts, Reese said.
Fellow student Midkiff said he intended to wear a suit and comb his hair like Carver, “so I look like him.”
A team consisting of Karter Hicks and Jaxon Cole researched Garret Morgan.
“He was an inventor involved in a lot of stuff. He invented the stoplight, gas mask and belt fastener,” Hicks said.
“I’ve enjoyed it. We have all been helping one another,” Cole said.
“It’s been fun doing the project with everyone,” Hicks said.
Kaidence Lancaster, Nilaysia Johnson, Skiilynn Imler and Emma Talley were learning about Ida B. Wells, journalist and teacher.
“We had a list of people to choose from. We wanted to do her because we are all girls,” said Lancaster, who planned to dress up for the presentation as a teacher. “I like Miss Jennings because she also teaches and I’ve wanted to be a teacher my whole life.”
Another all-female team was studying Katherine Johnson.
“She helped the first astronaut go up to the moon. She used her calculations to help him go up to the moon,” said Aria Webster.
A math equation was a prominent feature of the girls’ display.
“We all thought of the math equation because it (the display) was missing something,” said MiaRose Carrillo.
“We put the numbers, division and multiplication on here to represent that she loved math. We looked at the bottom of the picture and noticed (there were numbers there) and since she loved math and science,” said Grace Miles, who planned to wear a blue dress like Johnson wore.
Parents and primary students viewed the displays and heard the students make their presentations.
“We have to learn our past before we can continue with our future,” Jennings said of the event. “I want them to say, ‘I learned something new today.’”