Published: May 09, 2008 11:41 am            

Living History

Oak Grove students convert school into living museum

By Sean Bailey / Staff Writer

A stretch of hallway at Oak Grove Elementary School was converted into a living museum this week to commemorate the bicentennial birthday of Kentucky’s own Abraham Lincoln.

At the entrance of Oak Grove’s Timeline Drama museum a larger-than-life cut-out of the 16th president greeted visitors through two white columns designed to resemble the entrance of the White House.

Inside, fifth graders dressed in period costumes recreated events from U.S. history starting with the Mayflower’s voyage to the New World and ending at the days just before Lincoln’s assassination.

Students were dressed as Native Americans, Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers, and of course Lincoln himself.

Darla Pool said she helped combine three subjects — social studies, drama and the visual arts — to teach the history of Lincoln’s life, all while making sure to teach core concepts, too.

“The kids have learned a lot. I think the adults have had as much fun as the kids. We’ve had judges, sheriff’s deputies, all sorts of people visit our museum,” Pool said.

Normally, the annual history drama takes place in a classroom but with renovations at Oak Grove, this year’s event had to relocate to a hallway.

“We didn’t want this year’s fifth graders to miss the opportunity, so we moved it here, even though it’s a little crowded and warm, I think it turned out really well,” Pool said.

Pool said she chose to focus on Lincoln because of the state’s year-long celebration of the Kentucky born president. The timeline stops on April 13, with Lincoln resting in his chair tired from war and the deaths of his sons, just one day before the fateful trip to the theater. Pool said she chose to end the timeline just before his murder to keep the timeline as a celebration of Lincoln’s life — rather than a recreation of his death.

Casey Crisologo was one of the fifth graders who donned Lincoln’s beard and top hat for the museum visitors.

“I was nervous at first, but then it was fine,” Crisologo said. “I made sure to practice my lines every night before today.”

        

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