Wax Museum Paloma PicassoFourth-grade students at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy, located in the Forest Hills section of Queens, presented a Live Wax Museum today as they concluded their celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Academy students and parents had the opportunity to tour the student-created “museum.”
The display featured 22 figures from the past and present that come from Hispanic countries, including: baseball great Alex Rodriguez, the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz, singer Bruno Mars, politician, and activist Evita Peron, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and famed artist Pablo Picasso.
As part of this Catholic Schools Week special project, students have studied the lives of these famed figures, created costumes, and prepared special presentation boards. The students posed and waited until visitors pushed the red button. Then they came alive and relayed important facts about their lives in both English and Spanish.
“This exhibit showcased who we are as a school community, with a group effort of parents, teachers, and students. The students were able to utilize their research and public speaking skills to make these figures come to life. The students were so proud, and so was I, in what we accomplished today,” said Dana McCann, Principal of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy.
“This is a project that helps the students understand the real-world connection, that Spanish is not just a vocabulary list in a classroom. With this experience, our students learned that anyone from any part of the world can aspire to be a leader in their field,” said Sandra Paz, the Spanish teacher at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy.
Photos below of the figures on display in the Wax Museum including Paloma Picasso, Juan Martin Del Potro, Alex Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, Sonia Sotomayor, Bruno Mars, Lionel Messi, and Alicia Alonso.
