Students-turned-statues bring history to life

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — As Lone Oak Elementary third-grader Selena Smith has told her mother many-a-time, she just wants to be an artist.

During a recent class project, she got her wish. She was famous French post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau.

Leading up to the project, Selena and the rest of Beth Hovekamp’s third-grade students each had to choose a historic figure, research that individual and then write a paper about his or her life.

Then, they got to dress and pose as their chosen historic figures in a "Living Museum" in the school’s library where the students were not only the statues, but the teachers.