Bringing History to Life: The Wellington Approach

Bringing History to Life: The Wellington Approach

At Wellington, learning is designed to spark curiosity, ignite passions, and empower students to take ownership of their educational journey. This fall, Jackie Butler P ’27 ’30 ’37, a second-year teacher at Wellington and a new addition to the upper school history department, brought that philosophy to life with an extraordinary project in her World History class. 

 

The Ancient Civilization Museum Project encouraged students to become active historians by choosing two ancient cultures to compare on a topic of their own design. Whether exploring written language, burial practices, or societal roles, students had the freedom to follow their interests while cultivating the same essential skills — research, analysis, and presentation. Butler’s approach emphasized that curiosity is a powerful driver of deeper learning, allowing students to engage meaningfully with history on their own terms. 

 

Butler’s dynamic teaching style and commitment to student-centered learning made this project a standout experience. She guided students through brainstorming sessions, helped refine their ideas, and introduced technology as a tool for enhancing creativity. With “Wanda Wellington” — Butler’s affectionate name for her classroom AI — students responsibly leveraged AI to spark ideas while learning the value of originality and critical thinking. 

 

The result was a museum filled with vibrant, student-curated exhibits that brought ancient civilizations to life. Below, Alice Clark ’28 reflects on her experience, highlighting the creativity, collaboration, and discoveries that made this project unforgettable. 

By Alice Clark ’28 

 

The Project  

The Ancient Civilization Museum Project was an end-of-trimester project that happened for the first time in Ms. Butler’s world history class this fall. Students were tasked with picking and researching a topic in two different ancient civilizations. It could be anything from skincare to warfare. As said by Ava Babin ’28, if you notice women being portrayed as powerful in tomb paintings, you can infer that they had more power in society. We could pick any civilization that was present in the years 3000 BCE and 500 CE, and any subject that we could compare between the two. 

Choosing Topics 

When it came to picking their topics, most students chose a topic that was interesting to them; Sophia Patel ’28 says that she chose her topic – written language in Egypt vs. Sumer – because she always found it “so cool how you can look at something and understand what it means” (Patel). Other people picked their subject for as simple a reason as the month with Ava Babin ‘28 choosing burials – Celtic vs. Etruscan – to get in the mood for a spooky month (editor’s note: the presentations happened in October).   

 

To help us pick our final topics, we had a class day dedicated to brainstorming. With our table groups, we all came up with about five prompts that would spark some high-level research. After that, we came together as a class and shared refined ideas. We were encouraged to use AI for brainstorming purposes, but we were not allowed to use it for writing. Ms. Butler stressed that we should be responsible users of AI because it is here to stay. Fun fact: Ms. Butler’s AI is named Wanda Wellington.  

The Process (Or...The Good, The Bad, and The Just Plain Ugly) 

When you start a project of this magnitude, you go in with high expectations of yourself and others. You have a vision of what you want the poster to look like, what you want the paragraphs to sound like, and what you want the audience to take away from it. These expectations we set for ourselves are unrealistic, but some fun things happen as we try to get there. For example, I had fun decorating my board with doodles of a cedar tree from the Epic of Gilgamesh and a flood with pyramids in the background for stories of Osiris and Isis.  

 

When it came to the museum walk-through, my favorite part was having the little jags come up to me and tell me about mummies. Mrs. Swendal's prekindergarten class had just read a book about ancient Egypt and was very enthusiastic about telling me (writer’s note: they also appreciated the “Bluey” shirt I wore). Overall, it was such a fun and interesting experience that I hope many future classes will be able to participate in. 

 

 

Babin, Ava “Interview”. Alice Clark (11/15/2024) 

Patel, Sophia “Interview”. Alice Clark (11/15/2024)