Students at John Small Elementary showcased their Wise Guys Wax Museum yesterday, giving reenactments of notable figures in American history.

Fourth and fifth-grade enrichment students in Kathryn Bryant’s class gathered in the school’s gym to present “Scenes from American History,” the theme for the event, said Bryant. Each student was tasked with choosing a figure and recreating their time in history. Students also had the option of working in pairs or small groups, according to Bryant.

Bryant said each student or group had to research their chosen figure, write a report about that person, research 10 interesting facts about them, as well as cite references for their research. The students then came up with costumes to depict their historical figure and created a presentation board, displaying their report, facts and references, all of which is part of the class’ enrichment curriculum, Bryant said.

As students piled into the gym, figures from early American history to modern-day pop culture could be seen presenting themselves to parents, teachers, students and guests.

“We have some figures from pop culture like the cabbage patch kid craze, and some are more historical like the first flight and the lost colony,” Bryant said. “They are super excited. They’ve been working for months on costumes, and they’ve been super excited to put it all together.”

Fifth-grade student John Singleton depicted a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of firefighter Chris Fields, carrying one-year-old Baylee Almon, in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Singleton donned a firefighter uniform, loaned to him by Southside High School’s Fire Academy and could be seen holding a baby covered in blood.

“I’m just here to help people know it was a sad day and that a lot of people were lost, but a lot has happened since then and things are starting to go back to normal,” Singleton said. “I’m just glad they’re doing that and things are better.”

Fifth-graders Kayla Clark, portraying Maude Sherman, and Hunter Linnen, posing as James Naismith, recreated Naismith’s invention of the game of basketball. At one point, Naismith’s wife, Sherman, took a shot into a peach basket held by Naismith. Clark commented on the learning experience the wax museum and how it was more effective than other methods of study.

“It gives you more of a reason to actually pay attention to what you’re learning instead of reading about it,” Clark said.

Another exhibit by fourth-graders Kobe Munday, Hayden Moore, Steven Whitford and Edwin Vasquez portrayed the famous photo of the raising of the American flag in Iwo Jima during World War II.

Earlier this year, the same group of students held their Wise Guys Invention Convention, showcasing different inventions from around the world and the impact each had.