History Day at Thomas Middle School

Students at John C. Thomas dressed up as historical figures in a kind of historical fair called A Night at the Museum on Monday, June 12, in the middle school gym. In preparation, each student, sixth through eighth grade, gave teachers a list of 10 people from history that they were interested in. In turn, the teacher assigned one of those characters to the student. The student was then responsible for becoming well versed in the person's story, in order to share it with others.

Jake Leitz as Malcolm X. "I know that he was shot 15 times by the religion he was once a part of but he broke away from. He was giving a speech and they came and shot him. He dropped out of high school because a teacher said he would never be anything in life and he should be a carpenter. So he got into crime and was arrested. He went to jail for six years. There was nothing to do but read books so he just read and joined the Nation of Islam. He met with the leader, Elijah Muhammed. He established a newspaper, became famous, got married. He took a religious pilgrimage to Mecca and had a religious awakening. When he came back he didn't want to violently protest the civil rights movement, he wanted to do it peacefully like Martin Luther King, Jr."

Ashden Niemeyer as Babe Ruth. "He hit 714 career home runs. He had an ERA of 2.28 when he was a pitcher. His batting average was 0.343, which was pretty exceptional back then."

Mallory Warrick as Florence Nightingale. "She was a nurse back in the 1800s. She mainly worked for men in war, for gunshot wounds and cholera."

Selena Salas as Nancy Reagan. She was going to be Mona Lisa but there wasn't enough information. Still, she was having fun.

Logan LaBerge as his favorite president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "Everybody knows him. He was the 32nd president of the United States. He was elected four times, got the United States out of the Great Depression, but got them into World War II for the better. He had polio, diagnosed in 1921."

Adriana Ashe as Margaret Thatcher. "She was the first woman prime minister of the United Kingdom and she created soft ice cream. They called her the Iron Lady. When a man tried to get in her way, she punched them and stuff and made them cry."

Ava Thomas as Anne Frank. "She had to hide from Nazis in an attic for two years. I thought it was cool that they published her book."

Brody Carlson as Craig Sager. "He was a famous sports announcer that died recently of leukemia. He was a very colorful guy. He was a sports announcer for 28 years."

Mary Jane Neves as Grace Kelly "My girl was an actress. She filmed in Rear Window and High Noon, and many more. She married Prince Rainier of Monaco. After they married, she stopped filming and had three kids. She was driving and had a stroke. They went down a hill, so they rolled. She had one of her daughters with her, but she was fine."

Laila Abdul-Karem as Cleopatra. "She was born in 30 BC. She committed suicide because her lover committed suicide. Tragic. But it happened. She was a pharaoh who ruled Egypt for nine years. When her father died, she married her little brother, Ptolemy, to keep the blood line rule, then she later poisoned him so she could have her own throne."

Reigha Niemeyer was Princess Diana. "She died in a car crash. She didn't feel loved by Prince Charles and she wanted a divorce. She helped people."

Tanner Collupy as Charles Darwin. "He was the founder of evolution. His mother died when he was eight. He was born in 1809 and he had many different theories."

Landon Luce was Julius Caesar. "He was 66 when he was assassinated by his own people. They wanted more power than him. He expanded the Roman empire all over the world. He was a powerful man." As for the project, Luce said, "This was fun. I think it's cool there are so many people here. Everybody has their own person, and they are looking into more than what they see every day."