NEWS PHOTO JEREMY APPEL Caleb Matheson dressed as General James Wolfe, who won the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham for the British, for Roy Wilson Learning Centre's live wax museum.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Grade 5 students at Roy Wilson Learning Centre got to dress up as their favourite Canadian historical figures or events Wednesday for the school’s fifth annual live wax museum.
“They have the ability to show their learning in a unique way that isn’t just through a straight-on report. It’s something that can really come to life for them,” explained teacher and event organizer Nathan Gale.
Each student sat at a station and when attendees push a functioning switch made by each student, they sprang to life, delivering a monologue on their particular historical figure, whom they each selected in a draft after learning about them.
The students are graded on the research they conduct, as well as their presentation and for the building of their switch, Gale said.
Sarah Werre, another teacher who put the event together, says it “ties really well” with the Grade 5 curriculum, which includes a major unit on history.
The event was open to the public, with dignitaries in attendance, including members of the Medicine Hat Public School Division board of trustees, superintendent Mark Davidson and local MP Glen Motz, whose granddaughter Mylas was one of the participating students, dressing as hockey player Hailey Wickenheiser.
Many of the students presented as political figures, who took a group photo with Motz. There was John A Macdonald, Wilfrid Laurier, Tommy Douglas, Kim Campbell and Justin Trudeau, to name just a few.
Lukas Duqutte dressed as Trudeau, whom he described as “cool, even though he sucks.”
He said he learned from the assignment that Trudeau is the eighth prime minister to have a ‘J’ in his name and that his wife is named Sophie.
Payton Stickel chose the 1987 Edmonton tornado for his historical event, dressing as a weatherman with a shoebox display beside him that depicted the storm.
He said he selected that event because he has relatives who experienced it firsthand.
The tornado killed 27 people, which Stickel said wasn’t as many as he thought.
“I found it interesting that it was not actually as big of a tornado compared to some of them,” he said.
Going back to the days before Confederation, Caleb Matheson dressed as General James Wolfe, who led the British to victory over the French in the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham during the Seven Years’ War.
“That victory made Canada what it is today,” Matheson said, adding that it “gave us our culture, our language and all of our origins.”
From the other side of the battle, Jack Doerksen selected Marquis de Montcalm because he “thought it would be fun to do something new.”
“He helped Canada become a bilingual country,” said Doerksen. “They were defeated, but he managed to repel the British at the gates of Quebec.”
