Eugene sixth-grade student Leah Moore has aspirations to become a marine biologist.
One of her leading inspirations to study animals is Jane Goodall. It was only natural for her to portray the renowned primatologist and anthropologist at the annual Living Museum at Eugene Elementary.
"I knew a little about her before, but I learned a lot about her for this. She inspired me because at first she didn't have any experience with it, but then she got used to it and gained experience," Moore said. "I like dressing up and doing research about my character and sharing that information with people."
Moore joined 48 other sixth-graders in portraying a variety of historic individuals who lined the hallways of Eugene Elementary during Living Museum. Along with Jane Goodall, Queen Victoria, Cleopatra, Benjamin Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Bill Gates, Harry Houdini, J.K. Rowling, Dolly Parton, Mother Teresa, Alfred Hitchcock and LeBron James were also depicted.
These characters "came to life" with information about the historic person when elementary students, staff and community members simply stepped on the individual's handmade button on the floor in front of them.
"It's just like going to an exhibit where you have a button you push to find out more information," sixth-grade teacher Sarah Harmon said.
The event, which Harmon facilitated with Eugene Elementary librarian Gayle Skaggs, is the culmination of a nearly month-long research project for the sixth-graders.
Students selected their top three choices from a list of 160 famous people to study and portray at the Living Museum, Harmon said. All students were able to depict one of their favorite people this year.
"We do a lot of research in class. They were required to have a printed resource and an electronic resource. This way they could experience both avenues," she said.
Once the research was complete, the students created a speech to use during the nearly two-hour event. They also were encouraged to dress creatively as the person, use relevant props and create a poster or name badge explaining the person.
Skaggs also assisted students with their research, some props and the final presentation.
"We had lessons about body language, how you present yourself, some dos and don'ts about their presentations," she said. "It is a really good opportunity to get experience with public speaking. Some of them are so timid, and it helps strengthen their confidence and learn about history at the same time."
Harmon graded each student on research, speech, costume/props, poster/name badge and presentation/effort during the Living Museum. However, every individual walking through the museum learned some interesting facts about the famous people. So did the sixth-grade students portraying them.
"He had a pacemaker put in," Garrett Hagard said of legendary comic book writer Stan Lee, who he portrayed. "Stan Lee had a really hard time with being the president of Marvel Comics and the amount of pressure put on him. He stepped down from the president position, and he almost got out of comics. Something else I learned was he usually stars in all his movies with one or two funny lines."
Hagard's depiction of one of his icons not only mimicked Lee's gray mustache, sunglasses and wardrobe but also delivered lots of information through Hagard's speech and a poster of the many characters Lee created, including Hagard's favorite, Captain America.
"I like that you learn a lot from listening to other characters," said Charlie Cardwell, who portrayed Jim Henson and spoke with a puppet. "You get to speak to visitors and be able to inform them about an important person in history."