HUMBOLDT Scott Brady believes creativity helps enhance learning. His students got in the act Tuesday as part of Bradys Famous Kansans Wax Museum where they stood stock-still in imitation of wax caricatures of famous Kansans.
Brady teaches social science at Humboldts middle school and high school.
Seventh-graders dressed up as sports figures, entertainers, military and science heroes and, on the darker side, notorious figures such as the Bloody Benders and Richard Hickock.
The students posed in front of illustrated backdrops that contained photos and information about their characters, intermittently coming to life to give presentations about their subjects.
GARREN GOODNER portrayed Blake Bell, known as the “Belldozer,” a tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Kalev Albin was dressed in a space suit and carried a helmet as Ron Evans, Apollo 17 command module pilot on the last U.S. mission to the Moon. Evans visited Iola several times to visit his brother, Jay Evans.
Assya Goforth wowed as Ellie Kemper, actress and comedienne; Bridgett Neeley and Tiffany Holbing were side-by-side as singers Taryn Southern and Grace Vanderwaal.
And then there was Steven Leo who was spot-on as John Bender Jr., one of the Benders clan notorious for terrorizing the Cherryvale area with serial murders in the 1870s.
Nathan Westendorf, as abolitionist John Brown and Robbin Robinson, as actor Paul Rudd, were dressed to the nines for their parts.
Another 25 students were involved in the wax museum. You can watch several of them perform by visiting our YouTube channel. Here’s student Meeka Harris performing as Clyde Cessna:
WHILE THE the wax museum event is fun for the students, and one that takes a full month of off-and-on preparation, Brady has specific goals.
Each student has to speak alone in front of a crowd (albeit mostly parents and siblings), which is a good lesson for them in public speaking, he said. They need that skill going forward into high school and, for many of them, into wherever their careers take them. They also will remember more about the characters they played, and those of their classmates, than if they had just read about them in a book.
Brady has other outside-the-box projects for his middle school students.
Eighth-graders are required, in groups of four or so, to create a video pertaining to the Civil War. All are familiar with the video capabilities of social media, and taking on such a project, Brady thinks, will give them a better understanding of the war between North and South.
Bradys middle school students also have an opportunity to broaden their understanding of the Republic and how the federal government works with a five-day trip to Washington, D.C., in the summer.
The journey, privately financed and not under the auspices of the school district, has 25 students signed up.
