Washington Middle School sixth graders proudly show off their ancient death masks made in collaboration with Infinity Visual and Performing Arts.

A longtime collaboration with Infinity Visual and Performing Arts has helped make ancient history tangible for sixth graders at Washington Middle School.

Lisa Peterson, a sixth grade teacher at Washington, and her colleagues at Washington spend three days each year working with Infinity art instructor Renee Boardman on a project that makes learning about ancient Egyptian belief systems and rituals from across the globe more accessible to students.

“We read about the idea of ‘death masks’ in an article that goes along with our National Geographic textbooks,” said Peterson. “One of the big standards in sixth grade is learning about these religions and how the religions affect the government and political systems.”

“The ancient Egyptian people believed in an after-life and that as long as they had a body for the soul to come back to, they’d be able to participate in that after-life,” Peterson said. “They created and designed masks for them to ‘identify’ their bodies by.”

Peterson said Washington teachers have been working with Boardman, an arrangement that’s assisted by curriculum coordinator Denise Pusateri, to create the masks for the last three years.

“I approached Renee a few years back and said, ‘I have this idea, but I don’t know how it would play out,'” she said. “She helped make it happen. She does a really wonderful job. The kids love working with her.”

Making the masks is a three-day process.

“Renee brings in plastic masks that the kids will paper mache over,” Peterson said. “Then the students research what mask they want to create and how they want to make it, so they’ll bring in cereal boxes or other things to create the different features. They’ll then add on a fake beard or a snout. Then day three is adding on jewels and painting them how they want them.”

The result is an engaging activity, Peterson said, and students who can’t wait to bring their creations home to show their families.

“The kids are so into it,” she said. “This year, I felt like it was even better. For the third year of doing this particular project, it all really came together this year. They’ve been really excited to take them home.”