GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. – Students at Oak View Elementary and Peck Elementary are celebrating the achievements of African-Americans throughout history with an interactive “wax museum.”
The students picked out an African-American historical figure that they would then research and learn about to portray in an exhibit to parents and members of the community.
Peck Elementary has presented “Black wax” for over nine years, while Oak View Elementary has incorporated the ‘wax museum’ into their annual African-American Extravaganza in celebration of Black History Month for the past three years.
“It’s called the Black Wax Museum because the students are supposed to be wax figures and they come alive when someone puts change in their cup,” said Danielle Mack, 3rd-grade teacher at Peck.
According to Tanya Trent, the 2nd-grade teacher who coordinates African American Cultural Extravaganza at Oak View, the event includes African music, dance, drumming, art, and storytelling.
Guests can enjoy food for purchase from a few food trucks parked outside the school.
Peck Elementary students are assigned a ‘category’ for the figures they will study based on their class, third, fourth or fifth grade.
Among the figures represented at Peck: inventor David Fisher, scientist Roger Arliner Young, and engineer Lonnie Johnson.
At Oak View, the auditorium is filled with tables displaying colorful poster boards with pictures, fun facts and quotes by famous African Americans such as astronaut Mae Carol Jemison, civil rights hero Rosa Parks, former president Barack Obama and NBA star Michael Jordan.
“The students have been working on their project now for almost a whole month,” Trent said. “When they bring it in for us to see, you can see their faces shining so bright.”
The African American Extravaganza will be held at Oak View Elementary in High Point from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the Historical Wax Museum at Peck Elementary in Greensboro from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
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