Welcome To Southfield,
Madame Tussaud

An amazing collection makes up
Yeshivat Akiva's "wax museum."

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

I

It wasn't the usual crowd May 1 at
Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield.
Among the guests: Harry Houdini,
Albert Einstein, Tiger Woods, Betsy
Ross, Mary Cassatt, Martha Stewart, the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., Christopher
Columbus and Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon.
Of course, if you took a very close look, you
might have noticed that some of these men
and women bore a slight similarity to students
in the school's fifth grade.
Akiva's Wax Museum is an annual event (this
year marks the school's fourth), a program
designed by fifth-grade teacher Shirleen Pensler
as a way "to bring book reviews to life."
The project begins when students write a
book report on any famous person, past or
present. Next, the children actually "become"
this person by posing, in appropriate costume
and with plenty of props, at the Akiva Wax
Museum.
Visitors, including parents, teachers, admin-
istrators and other classes at the school, gently
touch the wax figure to bring it to life.
"Martha Stewart" (aka Mirele Mann of
Franklin) then tells all about her background
and career (rest assured, it's a good thing);
"Shirley Temple Black" (aka Molly Goldmeier,
10, of Southfield) gives you the history of her
illustrious career; and "J.K. Rowling" (Mindy
Schneider of Oak Park) tells how she dreamed
up a character named Harry Potter.
Just before the big event began, girls crowd- -
ed into the bathroom for a few last-minute
preparations: Dena Berlin of Oak Park applied
the makeup that would transform her into Rev.
King, Debbie Wrotslaysky applied yet another
coat of hair spray to "Golda Meir" (her daugh-
ter, Michal), while Margot Gardin of West
Bloomfield checked her costume, which
included a stuffed monkey.
"I knew I wanted to be something having to
do with animals," said Margot, who is nearly
1 1 .
She learned about Dr. Francine Patterson
from a magazine article, and was intrigued by
Dr. Patterson's decision to teach sign language
to a gorilla named Koko. "Gorillas are curious
and stubborn," Margot said, yet Dr. Patterson

was so successful that Koko now participates
on online chats, Margot said.

Its Time!

At last, 10 a.m. arrived. "You are now wax fig-
ures!" Pensler called as the children gathered in
the school lobby.
Quickly, Sharon Cohen, mother of "Mario
Lemieux" (her son, Mayer Cohen) dashed in
with ice-hockey skates, while "Albert Einstein"
(Lani Levi, 10) had her mother doing one last
check of her hair. It was a mess. It was won-
derful.
It took a precise combination of hair spray,
a blow dryer and white hair paint to get the
true Einstein 'do, mom Cherie Levi of
Southfield explained. It was astonishingly
realistic, though Levi. noted, "I'm not sure
how we're going to get it out. There will be a
long shower tonight."
According to Pensler, sports figures are
always some of the most popular wax muse-
um choices (witness this year's collection,
including not only Babe Ruth and Tiger
Woods and Mario Lemieux, but also Hank
Greenberg and Wayne Gretzky).
But don't think this means just boys.
Among this year's participants was Naomi
Greenbaum of Southfield. Naomi, 10, who
describes herself as something of a horse fan
("I've liked them since I was very, very little;
since I was a baby") posed as jockey Julie
Krone.
"She had a dog named Twiggy and she won
her first race when she was 5," Naomi said.
"She also was the first woman to win a Triple
Crown race."
Ruthie Lehmann, 11, of West Bloomfield sat
at a desk covered with tubes of paints. She was
artist Mary Cassatt, well known for her tender
pictures of mothers and children.
"I wanted to do something different," Ruthie
said. Relatives suggested an artist, and her
mother recommended Mary Cassatt.
Zev Newman, of West Bloomfield, said that
he's a big baseball fan, which is how he came
to be Babe Ruth. He learned about the Babe
from the Internet, encyclopedias and books.
And for all those who listened to his presenta-
tion — a parting gift in the form of a candy
bar.
A Baby Ruth, of course. ❑

* *0

Metanya Kidron; 1 1, of West Bloonzfield, is
Hari), Houdini; Lani Levi, 10, of Southfield .
poses as Albert Einstein; Noa Jerusalem, 10, of •:
Oak Park is Betsy Ross; Shirley Thnzple Blacl
also known as Molly Goldrneier; 10, of
Southfield.

5/ 9
2003

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