Stalin, Bill Gates and Aphrodite rub elbows

A motley crew of historical figures comes to life in a Wellington School tradition that blends fun and education.

By ANDREW MEACHAM

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The boy in the black-framed glasses holds up a poster showing a map of the former Soviet Union drawn in Magic Marker.

"I am Joseph Stalin," he says. "I ruled over the largest area of land, for a longer period of time, than any other dictator in history."

There follows an energetic summary of the Soviet leader's accomplishments, his joining with the Allies in World War II, and mental illness at the end of his life.

"Stalin" is Seth Allison, 13, a seventh-grader at Wellington School, 5175 45th St. N, which staged its 13th annual "Historical Figure Day" last week. In a bustling room, 97 sixth- to eighth-grade students displayed their handiwork on a project most had been preparing for months.

Students must write a report showing at least three sources, create a costume, and come ready to answer questions about their chosen subject. For this event, the term "historical figure" meant a person the student is interested in, or "someone who intrigues you," said history teacher Charles Schefer, 67.

Everyone from King Tut to Don King has a table here. The seating arrangements make for some strange bedfellows -- today Winston Churchill and Al Capone are pals; so are Harriet Beecher Stowe and Joan Embery of the San Diego Zoo.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates belong at the same table, don't they? Especially considering that Ryan Abel, 12, who picked Jobs, and Brandyn Meyer, 13, who plays Gates, have been absorbed by computers their whole lives.

A few tables over, Jennifer Alperstein, 12, has produced a quiet exhibit for an introspective subject -- Anne Frank. She has a diary with her own writing inside, a research paper and The Diary of Anne Frank, which she has read.

"I think it is interesting that she became famous just by writing in her journal and expressing her feelings," says Alperstein, dressed in a wool skirt and a white blouse. Elsewhere, the Andrews Sisters show up as Amadea Verlingis, 12, Adrienne Teigman, 12, and Ashley Hunter, 13. They say the singing group's 1940s music is "okay," but they prefer 'N Sync and rap music.

Colin Hunter, 13, says he chose Muhammad Ali as his subject because "he was pretty cool and he knocked a lot of people out."

Asked how Ali might respond to questions about why he refused to be drafted during Vietnam, Hunter replies, "It was against my religion, and I just really wanted to box a lot. I didn't really want to die."

As the Greek goddess Aphrodite, Gabby Thompson, 11, has selected a full-length white lace dress.

"I arose from the foam of the sea on a scallop shell," says Thompson, launching into character. "And as I arose, I was not a baby. I was a full-grown woman. I first stepped onto the land at Cytheria. And before, it was all, like, dead. And there weren't many plants and stuff.

"And as soon as I stepped on it, everything started blooming. And I was brought to Olympus by Zeus. And there everyone loved me, especially for my beauty."

Schefer said digging up a character's past is like listening to radio commentator Paul Harvey's biographical essays, "The Rest of the Story," a favorite among his students.

"When they get into the human interest stories of the individuals they have picked, they get really excited," he said.

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