I am a student in fifth grade at Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, N.Y., in Westchester. My teacher recently gave my class an assignment to choose any historic hero that changed the world. She wanted this to have a “wax museum” effect. Since I wanted to share my Ukrainian heritage, I decided to select the famous poet and artist Taras Shevchenko. For the assignment, I had to create a timeline about the important times of his life and a brief summary, and deliver a speech based on the summary and timeline displayed on a poster board.
February 11 was the day of the Grade 5 Wax Museum. We all had to be unrecognizable as ourselves, but to look like the historical figures we learned about. To make myself look like the older Taras Shevchenko I wore a man’s Ukrainian embroidered shirt (vyshyvanka), black pants, blazer and black wool hat. I had to look like a man, so I also tucked my hair back into a braid with my black wool hat. No one can be the older Shevchenko without a mustache. I went to a costume store and bought a long grey mustache. To complete my costume, I held a “Kobzar.”
Our classroom was dark. When one of the visitors or parents came to my desk and pressed a “wax museum” button, I put a flashlight under my face and recited the life of Taras Shevchenko (by memory).
This was a very fun and creative way to have an opportunity to look like someone who made a big change in the world. Taras Shevchenko was a revolutionary man, a poet and an artist and a national hero of Ukraine. I was proud to teach my American friends about my Ukrainian culture.
Oriana Kateryna Makar, 10½, is from Hartsdale, N.Y. She is in Grade 5 at the New York Self-Reliance Ukrainian School and is a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization in New York.