and baby makes three vol.2: Abraham Lincoln

In the Third Grade at East Sandy Elementary, all students are required to read a non-fiction book about a historical figure, write a report and then they use those reports to participate in a grade-wide "wax museum" wherein the kids dress up as their person (or the era of their person) and have a poster board up for display and when a "button" is pushed on their desk, they recite a few facts about their subject.

Earlier in the year, Trace told me that he would get to choose who he wanted to do his report on, so long as he chose before a certain date or one would be assigned to him. He told me that he was having a hard time deciding between Napoleon Bonaparte from France or Abraham Lincoln. Since I know little to nothing about the French, I encouraged him to choose Abraham Lincoln. Phew! He took my advice and chose the 16th President of our United States as his subject.

He had to read a book about Lincoln that was appropriate for his age and fill out questions about his life and achievements. Thankfully, I had saved/stolen the books that my Mom got for me growing up that teach young children about different attributes through the stories of famous people in history and sure enough, there was one about Lincoln in the set!

We read the book together and learned some interesting things about his life like; his mother died when he was only 9 years old. His father remarried and his stepmother was kind to him and taught him to enjoy reading. His step-sister, stepmother and biological sister were all named "Sarah". He lost his home twice due to title issues. (Interesting for me, not the third graders) He used to store important papers in his stove-pipe hat. He worked on a raft delivering supplies down the Mississippi River and was there introduced to slavery. He was born to very poor parents in central Kentucky and only attended one year of formal schooling. He never did attend formal law school, but was a successful attorney for over 25 years in the state of Illinois.

Trace painted a wooden log cabin for his display and Kevin found an enlarged version of a copper penny with Abe's face on it to put on the poster. Trace drew a picture of Abe Lincoln all on his own and when I suggested he include the infamous hat, Trace said "No, I want his true features to come out, not be hidden by a hat". Okay kid, whatever.

The day of the museum came and I, Kevin, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana and Papa were all in attendance to see Trace in his costume and to hear his report. Trace could hardly wait to wear his costume and tall hat that we got for him and he was "only slightly" nervous when asked about if he was ready with what to say. The school had the 2nd and 1st graders come through the exhibit first, then parents were invited to mill around and press the "button" of the different characters.
I was so impressed with the different choices and costumes I saw! There were kids there as; Benjamin Franklin, Roberto Clemente (Baseball), Henry Ford, Genghis Khan, Julia Child (Chef), Marie Curie, Jackie Robinson (Baseball), Bryce Harper (Baseball), Helen Keller, Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer), Bethany Hamilton (Surfer), Albert Einstein, Harry Houdini and even a boy who chose Susan B. Anthony as his report subject. All the kids really thought outside the box and although there were some repeats, (I think Abraham Lincoln was the most popular) it was so cool to see the kids choosing different nationalities, backgrounds and even gender to do a report on. Gives me a little hope for our future generation.