Holley fifth-grader Connor Hughson portrays Mary Cassatt, a famous American of the Civil War era. Students worked with actors to prepare their characterizations during a weeklong residency.

"Abraham Lincoln," "Susan B. Anthony," "Harriet Tubman" and "Ulysses S. Grant" spent the week with the fourth- and fifth-graders at Holley Elementary School recently. Each day, the students learned more about these famous Americans of the Civil War era, then the actors "stepped out" of character to work with a target group of fifth-graders, who also portrayed famous Americans, on how to become convincing characters.

At the end of the week during a final assembly, the students portrayed the characters they had been researching all week. The residency, which is a Project ADEPT (A Diversified Enrichment Program for the Talented) Explorations program through Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES, was an opportunity for all students and staff to learn about famous people in American history via first person characterization.