Fourth graders bring history to life at Brookside Primary School
June 18, 2025 | By Elise Coyle | Community News Service
Brookside Primary fourth grader Addie Kenyon is in character as Norman Rockwell at the class Wax Museum presentation on June 12 in Waterbury. Photo by Gordon Miller
A young Norman Rockwell sits at an easel, reciting a speech to people as they pass by. But the artist at work is not Rockwell — it’s fourth grader Addie Kenyon.
“I painted pictures of Americans at work,” she said, dressed in a gray wig and surrounded by tubes of paint and brushes.
Addie joined more than 60 of her classmates at Brookside Primary School to participate in the annual live Wax Museum last Thursday, their final project before going on to middle school.
Students spread across the school field in costume, a sign in front of each naming the Vermont-tied figure they had chosen to research and represent. As visitors walked up, the students began reciting lines from their reports.
“You can still find me fighting for equality every day,” said a student dressed as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who stood at a podium in front of the field.
Nearby, you could find John Deere, Clarina I.H. Nichols and several pairs of Bens and Jerrys.
Fourth-grade teacher Camille Anderson called the project the brainchild of fellow teacher Chris Costello, who is retiring after teaching for 38 years, 34 in Waterbury. Costello started the wax museum 16 years ago, wanting to expand upon his students’ traditional end-of-year written report.
Unsatisfied with the way a paper would die after he and the student had read it, Costello set out to produce a more engaging assignment.
‘Maria Von Trapp’ may have a story familiar to many attendees. Photo by Gordon Miller
“Students change that person from a dead person on paper to a real, alive person,” he said.
The wax museum this year was a culmination of over a month of work. Each student chose a figure to research with strong connections to the state. Then they wrote a report and a speech about the person’s life. For the museum event, they memorized the speech and put together a costume to complete the transformation.
“In the end, they do something they are proud of,” Costello said. “They see it all come together.”
Addie’s parents, Holli and Gary Kenyon, were impressed by the fourth graders’ dedication.
“I am blown away by how much everyone memorized,” Holli said.
Challenges became chances for collaboration. The parents recounted the struggle to find props for their daughter’s costume, ultimately completed with the aid of a teacher.
Throughout the course of the project, students became immersed in the history of Vermont and the person they chose.
‘Ethan Allen’ delights visitors with tales. Photo by Gordon Miller
“I love when they start calling each other by their wax museum names,” said Anderson.
She hopes the project illuminates just how many historical figures have roots in Vermont.
The school’s 65 fourth graders graduated this week, marking an end to their time at Brookside Primary.
UVM’s Community News Service is a journalism internship that provides reporting for community newspapers, including the Waterbury Roundabout.