By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

Patriot soldiers and George Washington joined Jackie Robinson and Orville Wright in the gymnasium at O’Loughlin Elementary School this morning.

About 70 fourth-grade students portrayed famous figures during the school’s Wax Museum. The event is the culmination of the Reading and Writing Workshop during which the students learn history, research and write both fiction and non-fiction on their chosen characters.

Teacher Amy Haskell said the students wrote books about their characters. The first two chapters were informational pieces about their characters, the third chapter was a story about their character, and their fourth chapter was a an essay trying to persuade readers their characters were important.

Parents and members of the school board were invited to watch the students perform in costume.

Presenting their characters to their peers and parents helps the students build confidence.

“It teaches them public speaking, to stand in front of adults and peers, and eye contact …” Haskell said.

The children said they learned new aspects of the characters they portrayed.

Mason Schleicher, fourth grader, explained why he wanted to portray a patriot soldier from the Revolutionary War.

“I just wanted to defend my country and help all the people who are suffering right now,” he said.

In his presentation, Schleicher described the conditions at the patriot camps.

“I learned how hard it was. I learned they risked their lives to just help other people and how they worked and did practices at their camps and stuff,” he said.

John Weisenborn, fourth grader, portrayed Orville Wright.

“I thought it was cool that he and his brother were the first people to build a plane,” he said. “If he hadn’t built a plane, where would we be now? Would we be able to fly?”

He said he also learned about the evolution of planes.

“They didn’t used to be made out of metal,” he said. “They were made out of wood with one or two engines.”

Weisenborn said he is interested in following in Wright’s footsteps and becoming an engineer and maybe even work on planes.

“My family is big into engineering. My father is some kind of engineer, and my sister wants to be an architectural engineer,” he said.