About 30 kids in Elk County brought some extra clothes to school today. They dressed up and transformed the hallways into a special museum.

Welcome to a one-day only “living wax museum.” The actors are fifth-graders. The famous American figures they’re playing include people like candy magnate Milton Hershey.

“He started at an ice cream company and then he quit the ice cream company and got a big caramel company, and it was really good because he got very rich from that,” says Levi Solada, who played Hershey.

Students became baseball players, authors, presidents, and even a saint, Mother Theresa.

Another learned about Anne Frank and her diary of the Holocaust.

“She had to be in the secret annex to hide from them and she wrote in there,” says Kelsie Bellotti, who played Frank.

Parents helped with costumes. To portray Thomas Jefferson, Luke Anderson donned a special wig.

“We ordered my hat off Amazon and we just had this in my closet,” says Solada, showing his suit jacket and tie.

“My aunt has a lot of costumes for Halloween,” says Alexa Schneider, who played Rosa Parks.

Each of the students had to do a report on a historical figure. One of those up on the wall is baseball player Jackie Robinson.

Then when someone hits a paper circle called “press here,” the student gives information about that person.

“Back then, the blacks and whites had to go to different schools and had to sit in different seats, but she made it so blacks could sit wherever they want,” Schneider said about Parks.

Two reading teachers say this is their first time doing this project.

“I saw it on a reading blog and then Jen and I met and we thought it would be a really cool idea to try and we didn’t know the kids would be as into it as they are!” says teacher Shannon Eckels.

“It fell at a good time of the year in between the election and Thanksgiving. It helped us reflect on America and all the things that built our country,” says teacher Jennifer Ingram.

After performing for other students, the kids were set for an encore with their parents after school at 3:30 p.m., building their public speaking skills.

“I’m not a big person about speaking in front of a lot of people,” says Anderson.

“I’m kind of nervous, but mostly excited” says Bellotti.

It was a journey through historym through the eyes of 10-year-olds.

“I think he’s really neat because he was one of our presidents,” Anderson said of Thomas Jefferson.