Where else besides Wantagh Elementary School can you find the first, 16th, 18th and 35th presidents of the United States at the same time? Together, they stood, along with dozens of other famous figures at the fifth grade’s annual living wax museum on March 10.

The annual tradition is the culmination of a biography writing unit. Students select and research a famous person from the past or present. Teachers note that the person must be someone who made a positive impact on society.

Students studied athletes, authors, business leaders, entertainers, politicians, scientists and more. They used books and online resources to learn about their subjects, before writing their biography reports in the form of a speech. The research and writing were done in school, white poster board presentations were created at home.

When the wax museum opened, students stood with their poster boards while in costume, ready for their guests to arrive. In the morning, parents came for a tour, while fourth graders roamed the museum in the afternoon, a sneak peek of a project they will do next year.

Fifth grader Lucas Iacona researched Albert Einstein, and said he selected the scientist known for his work on the theory of relativity because he admires people who use their brains to make the world a better place. Lucas enjoyed seeing all of the famous people his classmates portrayed at the wax museum.

“We all got to learn a lot about these famous people and how they impacted U.S. history,” he said. “If some of these people weren’t here, maybe we wouldn’t have stuff we have today.”