Cooper Kids Present History in Wax - from The Messenger

Sawyer Parcel, 10, a third-grade student at Cooper Elementary School, came face-to-face with the historic character she was portraying during the annual Wax Museum presentation Friday.

Or at the very least, a likeness of him on a shirt.

She had picked painter Bob Ross.

Fourth-grade teacher Carol Tell wore a Bob Ross T-shirt.

“I picked him because he inspired me to paint and draw,” Parcel said. “I love art.”

She had gathered a number of facts about her artistic hero.

“He used to work as a carpenter,” she said.

The White House was well represented, with both former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama on hand.

Hayden O’Brion, 9, wore a blue suit and tie to represent Bush.

She also brought a coffee cup with a pencil in it.

“He liked coffee,” she said. “A lot of old men like coffee. The pencil is a straw, that’s my straw.”

O’Brion said she liked how he became president and his handling of Sept. 11.

“I liked how he led our country when the towers got ruined,” she said.

Her grandmother, Leslie Hade, of Fort Dodge, listened to her presentation.

“I think the information she shared was accurate,” Hade said.

Traeton Naylor, 9, picked Obama.

“Because I like him,” he said.

He, too, learned a few things for his presentation.

“That his favorite food was chips and guacamole and that he was born on Aug. 4,” he said. “In 1961.”

Dorian Donchev, 9, picked a figure from history that needed a long beard, naturalist Charles Darwin, who’s credited with first formulating the theory of evolution.

“My mom bought it,” Donchev said, referring to the beard. “My teacher gave me the jacket and I had the hat at home.”

His family helped inspire his decision.

“My dad showed me that there’s a lot more to do than basketball or soccer players,” Donchev said. “So I decided to do Charles Darwin.”

He did tackle Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species.”

“I got the book, read a little and got interested,” he said.

He said he was ready in case anyone wanted to debate Darwin and the theory of evolution.

“I’m prepared,” he said.

No wax museum is complete without someone portraying President Abraham Lincoln.

Zach Palm, 8, choose Lincoln complete of course, with his famous beard.

“My mom made it for me,” he said.

His choice was easy.

“Because he’s my favorite president,” Palm said. 

He, too, learned a few Lincoln facts.

“That he had a nickname and was called the Log Splitter,” he said.

Lincoln was also quite tall, especially for the era and even by modern standards.

“He was 6 foot, 4 inches,” Palm said.

Kysen Reyna, 9, portrayed scientist Marie Curie.

“I wanted to be a scientist,” he said.

What did his research reveal?

“That she couldn’t go to college because her mom died when she was 10,” he said. “I died from a blood disease.”

Curie’s notebooks are still too radioactive to handle without protection — they’re kept in a lead box.

He was surprised at that.

“Yes,” he said.