Wax museum a fun project for JHE 5th graders

PHOTOS: 2025 Joe Harris Elementary Wax Museum

Mar 14, 2025

RIO RANCHO — In lieu of traditional schoolwork, Joe Harris Elementary School’s fifth graders embarked on a very engaging assignment by putting on a wax museum for the school March 7; all grades and parents got a chance to catch it.

“I think all of this is really cool, and I am happy that the PTO did so much work for this museum,” said fifth grader Izabella Ortega, who was dressed up like Madame Marie Curie. “I liked the things that Curie accomplished. For example, she was the first female to win a Nobel Prize, which is really cool.”

Each fifth grader selected a historical figure, researched the individual, constructed a biography on a posterboard, dressed up as the person, and prepared a monologue to share with museum-goers.

“All the research was on their own. They created all the poster boards, they made biographies, and memorized a monologue to act out as the character,” fifth-grade teacher Holly Shires said. “They put in a lot of work, and I am super proud of them.”

Students were allowed to pick historical figures from four different categories: The American Revolution, The Civil War, The Renaissance Reformation, and any activist/inventor.

“I chose the Civil War era, and I am Belle Boyd,” fifth grader Zoe Velarde said. “I wanted to pick someone interesting, and then I heard Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy, and I was like, ‘Wow! That’s interesting.’”

Historical figures spotted throughout the Joe Harris hallways included Robert E. Lee, Walt Whitman, Mary Todd Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein and many more.

“I did, like, two to three months of just work, work, work. My trifold poster took a month. It took a lot of effort, and I am happy to finally show all my hard work for someone so important,” said fifth grader Zack Martinez, who was dressed like Jackie Robinson.

Almost all in attendance were quick to shout out the school PTO’s hard work in decorating the hallway and classrooms.

“We went to Savers one day and put things together. We started putting things together, began collaborating and putting the vision to work,” PTO member Michelle DeLucia said.

Posters were hung to guide museum-goers, time period banners were placed, historical pictures filled the walls, and each attendee got a special ticket as one would get at an actual wax museum.

“A lot of us teachers are stretched thin in a lot of ways, and sometimes it’s hard to think about school decorations, construction of the tickets that we gave to the kids as if they were going to a wax museum ... our PTO did all of that for us,” Shires said.

The JHE wax museum met social studies and ELA standards, and will also be one of the more memorable days of the school year.