Changemaker Living Museum Brings Historical Trailblazers to Life

History came to life beyond the classroom with enthusiasm and creativity as fifth-grade students showcased the achievements of inventors, activists, scientists, athletes, visual and performing artists, and writers in their own curated exhibits in the Changemaker Living Museum hosted in Swain Library. 

The student curators dressed in all-black attire with custom labeled T-shirts and badges welcomed parents, guests, and fourth-grade students for the morning presentation. As a group, the students presented a passage from the book I Am One: A Book of Action by author Susan Verde. At the conclusion, the museum was deemed open where the audience was instructed to choose their first exhibit before moving on to the next exhibit room.

“The Living Museum is a highly collaborative presentation as it brings together history, art, and live performance,” said teacher and performance director Lisa Daly. “The dedication of the students really drove the process and its success as they took their time researching and becoming experts on their chosen figure.”

The audience was able to meander through each exhibit and talk to a myriad of trailblazers and historical figures who may have been unfamiliar to them and learn something new. Throughout the tour, all the guests got to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, Alexander Graham Bell, Louis Armstrong, Dr. Jonas Salk, Betty White, Kitty O’Neil, Florence Griffith Joyner, and more. At each exhibit, the students shared a monologue detailing the life and facts they learned about their chosen changemaker along with showcasing related artifacts. The presentation concluded with a musical performance of the Change Sings by poet Amanda Gorman with Lower School music teacher Rachael Jungkeit on the guitar along with two other students on guitar and two on drums.

The preparation for the Changemaker Living Museum began a few short months back with each student selecting a historical figure that was both an inspiration to them and had made a lasting and positive contribution to his or her field. Head Media Specialist Stacey Schwartz helped the students choose books and resources as part of the project research. In class with grade teachers Andrew McLean and Monica Emanuelson, students turned their knowledge into a research paper and crafted the monologues. Ms. Daly worked on the performance and staging aspect with the students as Mrs. Jungkeit worked on the musical performance.

Once the museum closed, the student curators opened their art exhibit for audiences. The exhibit featured individual art pieces inspired by the works of two artistic changemakers – Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. In class with Lower School Art teacher Sue Bennett 1973, the students learned about the pop art movement and its influence throughout history. For the first piece, the students were tasked with taking a contemporary item of their choosing and creating a painting based on the art style of realism. For the second piece, the students had only two class periods to create a graffiti-style picture on a chalkboard.