Students at

Brooks Elementary School don't just study history, they live it.

Dressed in

presidential garb, students in Dana Sams STAGED class (Students and Teachers

and Achieving Goals Every Day) lined the halls recently, transforming

their school into a human wax museum. With display boards covered in facts,

and a report at their feet, the presidents stood motionless, allowing

their stories to be told via taped cassettes.

"The children

helped me devise the activities for this project," Sams said, "and

there is far more than you saw on display in the classroom."

Sams explained

that her students tackled the project in every way possible, incorporating

art, history, science, social studies, songs, poetry, and internet-gleaned

information into their presentations. They learned about the Constitution,

the Electoral College and the Bill of Rights, according to their teacher.

"It was

just good old fashioned get-down-on-the-floor learning," Sams said.

Special guest

speaker at the evening assembly was former U.S. Sen. Mack Mattingly and

his wife, Leslie. Mattingly, who is running for the late Sen. Paul Coverdell's

seat in the Senate, told the standing-room-only audience, "This is

probably one of the most moving times in the mission we have been on...

campaigning for our Constitution."

He spoke about

the privilege Americans have in the right to vote, and the need for adults

to cast their votes in the upcoming election.

"The greatest

thing you have here in Brooks and in Georgia is the right to vote... it's

your number one job as a U.S. citizen," he said.

Sams noted

that a lot of the children's grandparents turned out for the event. "I

overheard one of them saying, 'This is the way school programs used to

be, with the whole town turning out.'" About 300 people attended,

and approximately 60 students took part in the presidential presentation,

including the chorus, which led the assembly in "The Star Spangled

Banner."

Sams' STAGED

class is the equivalent of an enrichment class. "The students came

up with the name," Sams said. The class also was responsible for

the refreshments, which featured dozens of cookies, cakes and goodies.