Exploring the Living Black History Wax Museum at Lenart Regional Gifted Center

It was another successful Black History Month for Ms. Korree Kiszkan’s second-grade class at Lenart Regional Gifted Center. The students continued the tradition of participating in a Living Black History Wax Museum for their school community to enjoy. This year, the museum was part of a school-wide Humanities Night! 

It was an extremely popular part of the event; the hallways were packed with parents and other members of the school community engaging with the students about what they each learned researching a prominent Black hero. With so much going on, there’s no better way to highlight the students’ hard work than by going…one letter at a time! 

B is for beautiful! 

A cornerstone of the Living Black History Month is seeing the beautiful artwork that students have created over the course of the school year. And this artwork ties in with Black History Month, too! Some of the artwork was inspired by the Pan-African flag and traditional Kente textiles from Ghana. 

L is for loving! 

Keep your eyes peeled, and you’ll see the students in some of the artwork as well! “Our Hair, Our Stories” is a powerful reminder to all of us to LOVE the parts of ourselves that make us special! 

A is for admirable!

The central idea of the Living Black History Wax Museum is to discover what you admire about the Black hero you are researching! Haylie did just that when she shared what she learned about astronaut Mae Jemison. She highlighted all of the steps Mae had to take to reach her dreams! 

C is for creative! 

Creativity doesn’t always mean perfection! “Perfectly Imperfect Faces” gave the students an opportunity to let their creativity shine by combining different colors and shapes in a way reminiscent of traditional African masks! 

K is for kind! 

Even though these Black heroes are leaders in our world, many of them have kept kindness as one of their core values. Kylie displayed this as Michelle Obama! She made sure to share Michelle’s famous quote: “When they go low, we go high!” and explain what it meant to her. 

H is for happy! 

You could feel the joy emanating from every student. They were all having a lot of fun, especially Jaxon, who chose Michael Jackson. He emulated Michael’s style and energy in his presentation! 

I is for intelligent! 

These Black heroes highlight that the sky is the limit for Lenart’s students! They can accomplish anything that they set their minds to. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries, was a great source of inspiration for second-grader Elam! 

S is for statuesque! 

One of the rules of the Living Black History Wax Museum: If you haven’t been brought to life, try to stay as still as possible! But that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with your poses. Look at how Taylor chose to be Venus Williams! 

T is for thoughtful! 

It was amazing to see the level of thoughtfulness these students put into their projects, including their display boards! The information and pictures they chose worked together in perfect harmony, bringing their Black hero to life! Zoya did a wonderful job highlighting soccer player Briana Scurry! 

O is for open-minded! 

Each student needed to stay open-minded to learn as much as they could about their Black hero. And that’s exactly what Avery did when learning about Malcolm X! His research taught him about all of the ways that Malcolm acted as a changemaker to help society take big steps forward. 

R is for revolutionary! 

Is there anyone more revolutionary than Prince? Matthew showcased how Prince was more than just a musical genius! Sure, being able to play so many instruments by ear was incredibly impressive, but what matters most is how Prince was able to inspire others to be themselves through his bravery. 

Y is for you!

Yes, you! These students celebrated Black History Month, and now it’s your turn! Go learn more about a Black hero who you are interested in. As these students showed, it will be a lot of fun. Happy Black History Month, and we’ll see you back at Lenart next February!