Fifth and sixth graders portray people from the past

HAINES — Joan of Arc stood silent, staring into the distance until someone pushed the red button on her poster board.

Suddenly animated, Joan told her story of leading an army at 17.

“I cut off my hair and dressed as a man for safety,” she said, using her wooden sword to point out facts on her board.

Her speech ends when, at 19, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for her beliefs.

As she finishes her talk, Joan of Arc turns into Lucy Snow, a sixth grader at Haines Elementary who presented a character from history as part of a wax museum project.

“I was looking up medieval people — she sounds cool,” Snow said of Joan of Arc.

Sixth graders choose a person who was born prior to B.C. as part of their world history study.

Fifth graders, who study U.S. history, chose an American hero.

On Thursday, May 15, the students dressed their parts and set up stations on the Haines playground to portray influential people from the past. Each talked about the life span of the person, as well as major accomplishments.

On the side of ancient civilization, students portrayed Confucius, Buddha, Socrates, King Tut, Ivan the Terrible, Cleopatra and Aesop.

Leticia Carrillo was Empress Leizu, from the 27th century BC.

“My major accomplishment is discovering silkworms and silk,” Carrillo recited, in character as the empress.

“She seemed interesting because she discovered silk,” she said after finishing her speech. “It was amazing to learn about her.”

The fifth grade students chose from the more recent past, including Joseph Smith, Stan Lee, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Buffalo Bill, Calvin Coolidge, Nathan Hale, Colonel Sanders, Tom Brady and Sally Ride.

Cason Stephens, donning a white wig and tricorn hat, recited the story of George Washington.

He even talked about the first president’s teeth.

“One of my teeth was a donkey’s tooth,” he said, breaking character for a second to smile at the reaction from his audience.

Stephens’ poster included extra facts about Washington, such as “Did you know George loved parties and was an excellent dancer?”

And then, released from character by the recess bell, Stephens took off, wig and all, to join his fellow historical figures on the playground.