VIDEO: Lowndes County expands discovery program with wax museum

• Students are keeping history alive and well with their own wax museum.
• Students were tasked with three people that they were most interested in researching further.
• Watch the video above to see their work and hear from the educators behind the idea.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

These Westside Elementary students are keeping history alive and well with their own wax museum. I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta, and I'm speaking with teacher's about the importance of county school's history curriculum.

"They research that person, get to know that person." Heather Tone is the fifth grade Discover teacher at Westside Elementary. She tells me the wax museum is more than just learning history. "They get to show their creativity in the things they create and the speeches that they give."

The historic figures include people who would be studied in the curriculum. Students were tasked with narrowing down the list to the top three people that they were most interested in researching further. Teachers helped make selections from there.

"We tackle research and learn how to do appropriate research, we got through the writing process... we also work on their public speaking skills." Tone is looking forward to Westside's Discover program further evolving with creative learning experiences like the wax museum, as 62 percent of teachers in the state report hands-on learning is more effective when used in combination with digital tools.

It's also a hit with students like Laird Walton, who tells me these types of projects are his favorite. "Future fifth-grades should look forward to this project. I have never done anything like this before and it was fun to try something new."

The Westside Wax Museum has a record-breaking 54 participants this year.