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From the Desk of Mr. Hawkins
Washington, DC Living History Museum
Dear Parents, Below is a timeline to follow for the next couple of months as we prepare and perform our annual Washington, DC Living History Museum. Most of you have probably seen this project before and are aware of the work that goes into putting together such a massive performance. There are a good number of you however, who have never seen this project and possibly still have questions about the entire process. This explanation and timeline should help make this next 8 weeks a little less stressful. For starters, the Washington, DC Living History Museum is a fifth grade social studies project which was started about 6 years ago by then fifth-grade teacher Leigh Austin. The year of the initial “Wax Museum”, as it is often referred to, was spent designing and constructing replicas of many of the more popular buildings and monuments in Washington, DC. Mr. Vick and the students did a great job preparing these props that year. These monuments are stored in our multipurpose room and have been reused each year. The construction of the monuments will require some parental assistance and will take place beginning after lunch on Friday, March 14. More information on this process will be sent home as we get closer to the actual date. The project consists of three components: a research paper/report, a skit written by the students with their partners, and the actual performance of the museum, where the students will portray their famous Americans of the past and present. The written report is to be three pages handwritten (or two pages typed). It should also include a cover page and a reference page, citing where the student’s information was obtained. To save valuable class time, I have printed and distributed one Internet reference for each student in class. This should give the students a starting point for their report. The students are encouraged to check out books from the school and public libraries to provide additional information on their character. These written reports are to be completed at home – no class time will be provided – and are due on Friday, February 15. (This is a change from the earlier announce deadline of February 8.) The students will receive a writing grade for their reports. The week of February 19-22 will be provided for the students to work with their partners to write their skits. These skits should be about 2 minutes in length and should provide ample opportunities for each member of the group to share important information about their character. Creativity is encouraged during this writing. We want these skits to be informative, but also entertaining. A little time will be provided in class each day from February 25-March 14 for the students to rehearse their lines. The actual Wax Museum will be held on two days. The first is the evening of Tuesday, March 18. On this night, the public is invited to attend and see all the hard work we have all put in. Usually, members of the school board, county commissioners, and other prominent members of our community attend. We will also be sending out invitations to various media outlets such as newspapers and television to publicize this event. The second performance will take place during the morning of Wednesday, March 19. On this day, all grade levels will be assigned a time to tour the museum. This is always a very exciting day for everyone, young and old. The fifth graders enjoy showing off for their younger peers (and past teachers) and the younger grades look up to the performers and hang on every word they speak. The teachers of the younger students always look forward to seeing the performances of their students from previous years. Your primary roles as a parent are to encourage your child throughout this process and to assist your child in designing or preparing a costume to help your child resemble the character he/she is trying to portray. Many parents choose to simply purchase a costume from a party store or costume shop. These can sometimes be rather expensive, but can occasionally be found rather inexpensive. Another suggestion is to check local thrift shops such as the Salvation Army, CHKD, or the Hopeline Clothes Line. Many characters are more recent people or even people still in public office. These characters are simply portrayed wearing nice dress clothes, usually suits with ties for the guys and dresses for the young ladies. A suggestion for military characters might be hunting outfits for soldiers or more-dressier slacks and appropriate shirts/coats for higher ranking military characters. Perhaps someone through the Coast Guard or one of our local ROTC programs would be willing to assist in this costume. There are a few costumes in storage. Please let me know well ahead of time if you need assistance in locating a costume or parts of a costume. I hope this explains the upcoming project and answers a few of the questions you may have had. If you still have questions concerning any of this, please do not hesitate to give me a call or send an email. Sincerely,
Mike Hawkins
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