Classroom Happenings: Role Models

Spartans benefit from a curriculum that offers multiple creative outlets. Through hands-on learning, students sharpen their communication and critical-thinking skills and make meaningful connections — often across a variety of disciplines. Upper Schoolers taught by World Languages Teacher Maria Burruss recently took on an assignment that combined research, art, writing, language, and role-playing: a museo de cera (wax museum) project.

Students began by researching influential famous Hispanic people, living or dead, who made important contributions to the world. They then created a “wax museum” exhibit by dressing as their research subject, creating a poster, and presenting their work in class completely in Spanish. The Upper Schoolers explored a variety of Hispanic notables, including Nancy Lopez, Lionel Messi, and Salvador Dali. 

Iris English ’26 researched and portrayed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“I chose her because of her social justice work to protect the working class, support women’s rights, and work for Native American communities,” shared Iris. She was surprised to learn that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez came from a modest background and took out several loans in order to be able to attend college. Multi-dimensional projects like this one, said Iris, “give students opportunities to dig deep into how things we learn in class connect with issues in our world today.”

Molly Timmerman ’26 thoroughly enjoyed watching the Broadway hits “Hamilton” and “In the Heights,” so researching their creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, was the perfect choice for her. Molly was astonished to learn that Mr. Miranda started writing “In the Heights” as a college sophomore. 

“As a high school junior, college isn't too far away for me,” she said, “and it's inspiring to see what someone relatively close to my age can do.” Dressing up and role-playing as Mr. Miranda gave extra meaning to the class assignment. “By figuratively stepping into Lin-Manuel Miranda’s shoes, I felt more connected to his story and could better understand his impact on the arts and on our culture,” she said. 

Ms. Burruss said, “Cultural awareness in the abstract isn’t always easy, but projects such as this one give light to lived experiences. I’m proud of my students, who were fully committed to their research, role-playing, and Spanish-language skills. The class presentations were fantastic: an opportunity for students to share, learn, and exchange ideas about some of their favorite Hispanic figures.”