Wagonwheel students showcase 2025 War Museum

“Honoring the Past, Learning for the Future.”

That was the phrase Wagonwheel’s students and teachers brought to the forefront of everyone’s mind just before spring break, as they introduced a months-long project in one culminating event: The 2025 Wagonwheel War Museum.

A cross-curricular venture, the project included everything from STEM to social studies, English and art, all joined together by the creative minds of the school’s fifth- and sixth-grade students and the hard work of school teachers and employees.

Visitors were led through the museum by student “tour guides,” taking in the extensive project at their own pace.    

In the art world, fifth-grade students created their own self portrait and a portrait of the historical figure they researched, along with a short dialogue written between the two. Sixth-graders created posters filled with how their specific subject area – communications, transportation, medicine – modernized from war to war.

And in the middle of the gym, pamphlets were filled with information and timelines about artists and what war they lived through – at times touching on what life influences impacted an artist’s work.

Students throughout the museum presented on each of their own topics to parents, friends and younger students who came through enthusiastically with their war museum tickets in tow. Guests could also watch videos students created with stop-motion and enjoy three musical performances: general music, band and orchestra.

To wrap it all up, guests took a trip outside to check out a new exhibit, a light military tactical vehicle, which made a journey into town for the special occasion. Visitors learned about how it was used and that it could adapt for use on different terrains, even if the controls are antiquated compared to what we see today.

Thank you to all who went above and beyond in putting the student-led museum together. What a neat way to honor the past, while also learning for the future.