Fifteen Seconds (02-04-08)

Quiz time. Get out your number two lead pencil and clear your desk. Ready? Here we go:
1. Which NFL football player came from Nicodemus?
2. Name the first woman to serve as a state superintendent of education?
3. Which Spanish American War hero was from Iola, Kansas?
4. Which father/daughter duo served Kansas as governor and senator?
5. What major sport was introduced to the world from Kansas and who was the inventor?
6. What major restaurant chain was founded in Wichita, Kansas?
7. Name the two major airplane manufacturers that originated in Kansas?
8. What was the gender of the first Harlem Globetrotter to be born in Kansas?
9. Who is the “Blue Light Lady”
10. How many uses for the peanut did George Washington Carver invent?

Okay, pencils down. So, how do you think you did? If you attended the third and fourth graders wax museum performance last Monday evening, you probably did pretty well. Or if you are a third or fourth grade HCGS student, you probably had a perfect score.

From my perspective, the Wax Museum Integrated Learning Project showcased our entire learning community. First, the idea came to the third and fourth grade teachers as part of their Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) training. Several years ago, these teachers were awarded an EETT grant that helped to purchase technology and training. The Wax Museum is just the latest of the many amazing projects started by these innovative educators.

Next, the night at the wax museum really showed off our great kids and their wonderful parents. The teachers gave each student a famous Kansan to research and to personify. The students created information posters, designed costumes, and wrote short 1st person narratives to describe themselves to anyone who happened push the “button” on the back of their hands. These monologues represented the students “fifteen seconds” of fame, as they repeated their scripts hundreds of time throughout the evening.

The parents contributed with some very elaborate costumes and appropriate props. Most of the wax figures were as effective in their appearance as they were factual in their presentations. The entire package was stunning and I was incredibly proud of our teachers, our kids, and our parents.

Of course, I am leaving out one very important part of our learning community – the public. Monday night, the hallway was packed with members of our community, who came out to support our kids and to learn a little about famous Kansans.
Everyone did his or her job to make this first wax museum a resounding success. With each push of a button, teachers, kids, parents, and community joined together to form an enjoyable and educational moment.

Never have I seen fifteen seconds accomplish so much.

Answers (Grade yourself…no cheating!)
1. Veryl Switzer – played for the Greenbay Packers
2. Lorraine Wooster – born in Beloit.
3. Fred Funston
4. Alf Landon (governor) and Nancy Kassebaum (senator)
5. Basketball, invented by James Naismith
6. Pizza Hut, co-founded by Frank Carney
7. Beech and Cessna, founded by Walter Beech and Clyde Cessna
8. Female – Lynette Woodard
9. Elizabeth Polly – Died in 1867 and reputed to haunt Ellis County ever since.
10. 105