Stanley Switlik Fifth-Graders Portray Historical Figures at Annual Living Wax Museum

Fifth-graders at Stanley Switlik Elementary School transformed their campus into a living history exhibit on Feb. 25, 2026, when they staged the school's annual Living Wax Museum for an audience of parents and guests.

The student-driven project placed each child in the role of a historical figure, tasked with narrating that figure's life and accomplishments to visitors who moved through the staged museum. Rather than delivering a traditional classroom presentation, students became the exhibits themselves, bringing historical figures to life through firsthand narration.

The format gave parents and guests what amounted to a walk through history, pausing at each student to hear a personal account delivered in character. The annual event has become a fixture at Stanley Switlik Elementary, with each fifth-grade class taking on the project as part of their school year.