As a teacher I needed to provide the students with an innovative way to learn about the saints and for them to present what they have learned not only to me as their teacher, but the whole school, teaching the younger grades about saints all over the world.
So for All Saints Day this past November my students dressed as Saints and imparted their knowledge about the life of a particular Saint to their teachers, students, and families. This year marked the fourth annual Saint Museum. For 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at Sacred Heart School, it was a day the hall was transformed into a museum of living statues.
Each student worked with a partner on a Saint of my choosing. After researching the Saint, the students wrote and memorized information about their Saint. Each group of students created a stone (a science board) and a costume of their Saint for one of the students to wear. One partner became a statue and the other was the docent of the museum imparting their knowledge to all the visitors who came through and stopped to listen about the Saint.
The whole school walked through the museum along with our priests, parents, families, and some parishioners. Our statues continued to breathe throughout the time of the museum, but impressed others by standing on their pedestals without moving or talking. The students worked hard all month and enjoyed showing off all they had learned. Younger students now look forward to the time they too can become statues in the museum and living Saints on earth.