‘Wax’ figures present history lesson

Bill Pickett, Shannon Miller and Sequoyah are just a few of the famous Oklahomans who showed up at Douglass Learning Center on Thursday.

No, they weren’t there personally, but their likenesses were portrayed by students Michelangelo Hinton, Jeicob Mendez and Presley Oakes. The three students were a few of those who made presentations as historical wax figures as part of an assignment from their teacher.

Crystal Sellars teaches third grade for Lawton Virtual Academy and, normally, these students attend classes via Zoom. Since the class is virtual, the students did this assignment through Zoom for the past two years. But on Thursday they dressed as a historical character and presented facts about that person to a group of adults in the Douglass cafeteria.

“I wanted them to do something memorable,” Sellars said. The students had to research the historical figure, create a poster about their life and dress up like them.

Sellers pointed out that each of the historical characters had to overcome some adversity in their life.

“The biggest takeaway I want them to have is that they can chase their dreams,” she said.

Presley Oakes, who portrayed Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, learned that she and Miller have something in common.

“She does gymnastics and I do ballet,” Oakes said. “I’ve been wanting to do ballet for awhile now.”

Mendez, who portrayed Sequoyah, came dressed for the part, right down to carrying a pipe. Mendez also made a reproduction of Sequoyah’s syllabary.

Pickett, Miller and Sequoyah were joined by Carrie Underwood and Jim Thorpe.