By Jordan Looney, Special to the Journal
Around Christmas break every year, the freshmen and sophomores hold a grand and exciting event in the commons area of Pleasanton High School. The Wax Museum. It’s a project to humanize the historical figures we both revere and despise. It’s a chance for them to learn facts that are either glossed over or skipped entirely in textbooks, as well as teach others about what they found interesting enough to include in their presentations. It’s a learning experience that involves the whole community.
The freshmen, required to take World History classes, choose someone outside of America. This may be someone as powerful as Genghis Khan, a great conqueror and King of the Mongols, or a great creative mind, such as William Shakespeare, equally as powerful in influencing the minds and processes of many.
The sophomores, taking American History, choose someone a little closer to home. They choose great American figures to represent for their project. These may be more personal to the students, as we often use things that the figures create in everyday life. The students may choose people such as John Deere, whose company makes the machinery and vehicles the students use on their own family farms, or Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of some students’ religion.
Whomever the students choose to represent, the annual project proves to be a learning experience for not only those participating, but those who arrive to listen to their stories. The power lies in them to educate the community about one of their idols.