NORTH BEND - Like an everyday Mary Poppins, Jacalyn Pinkston pulled everything from artificial flowers to a lab coat and binoculars from a red suitcase in her first-grade classroom at Kingsview Christian School in North Bend.

“And who carried this?” Pinkston asked, hoisting a black leather handbag out of the suitcase.

At the sight of the doctor's bag her students bubbled with excitement, shouting questions and turning to one another with glee.

“I know!” exclaimed Mason Trull, with elbows against the desk, levering him halfway out of his chair. “She was the first lady doctor!”

“That's right,” replied Pinkston, holding up the bag. “We studied Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and learned about her life and how she became the first woman to be a doctor in the whole world.”

In celebration of Women's History Month in March, Pinkston has been teaching her students about great women in history - a project that was met with a lot of enthusiasm, especially due to the many interesting outfits involved.

Pinkston has dressed up every day as one of the women on a long list of pivotal figures in history - much to the delight of her students and many others at Kingsview. Despite the jokes about her costumes, Pinkston took it seriously, whether it meant dressing in judge's robes to portray Sandra Day O'Connor or wearing hiking boots and a sun hat in honor of marine biologist Rachel Carson.

“People tease me, but March is Women's History Month, so it's a good time to do this,” she said with a smile.

On Friday, Pinkston stood before her students in a track suit and sneakers, wearing a ribbon with a golden cardboard medal around her neck. She paced the length of the classroom, telling her students clues about the last woman in the project this year, and challenging the children to guess her identity.

“This woman has died. She was an African American, a running lady - and won a gold medal in 1988 at the Olympics,” Pinkston said, fingering the ribbon around her neck. “This woman always wore special nails. She wrote books for children, was a beautician and a model. She was a very busy lady.”

The students listened to Pinkston intently, peppering her with questions before she could finish each sentence. Excitement boiled over into squirming feet and hands, with students eager to learn the mystery behind their running lady.

“She had a very long name, but when she became famous for her running, people shortened it,” Pinkston said. “They would call her Flo Jo.”

Sharing history

A longtime history buff, Pinkston said she started the class project after she began teaching at Kingsview earlier this year. She said she selected the women based on her great love of history, and tried to make sure students learned about a lot of figures from many different times and cultures (see sidebar). The 13 women selected were only the top few on a long list of women Pinkston said she would have liked to include in the month-long project.

Dressing up like the women she's discussing connects her young students to the story behind the history, Pinkston said.

“I'm a very visual learner, not every child learns that way, but most children do. And you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words,” she said.

The project, which encouraged students to get involved with the discovery of the women in history, was received with great excitement. Students clung to the stories about women who changed their roles, broke rules, defied the government, society or American customs to accomplish great things, Pinkston said.

“One of the things that excited the kids was when they really understood that all these women were real people, their stories really happened,” she said. “At this age, they're just now learning the real difference between real and fictional stories. So it makes a big impression that these women really lived.”

Students certainly responded to the project, remembering details and names from most of the women Pinkston portrayed over the last few weeks. However, the class was split over a few key favorites.

“I liked Sacajawea,” said Beau Beebe, leaning back in his chair. “She was adventurous. She left her family behind to go with Lewis and Clark.”

Excited voices both agreed and disagreed with Beau, some nominating Carson, Blackwell and Harriet Tubman as additional favorites among the students.

“I liked learning about Queen Esther,” said Grace Mahr, her right foot migrating from under her desk, in a circle around the legs of her chair. “I like that she was in the Bible.”

According to Pinkston, teaching history isn't the only lesson in the project, but also teaching students about strong character, facing adversity and having faith in yourself.

“Students will also see that even if you don't succeed right away to keep trying,” she said.

Following the daily history discussions, many students went home and quizzed their parents on female historical figures. Jessica Raleigh and other students cornered their families, Pinkston said, checking how famous the women in history were, or how much their parents knew.

“When we were eating dinner, Jessica would give us the same clues Mrs. Pinkston gave the class that morning,” said Michelle Jacobs, Jessica's mother. “She'd be really excited when we guessed right - but she was even more surprised when we didn't know.”

Beyond the lessons

Although Pinkston's goal was to educate her students on a some of the great women in history, she discovered her flamboyant methods were intriguing and educating the entire school.

Coming to work dressed as Eleanor Roosevelt, complete with a flowered and feathered hat, Pinkston attracted lots of attention. Guessing her identity became a fun activity for students, staff and volunteers over the last several weeks - but many of the speculations fell a bit short.

“You'd be surprised how few adults can name 10 women in history,” Pinkston said. “Dressing up makes this more fun for everybody.”

Seeing her in period clothing, or a close approximation, also involved and inspired some of the older students, she added.

Eighth-grader Corrina Bukovics said she loved seeing Pinkston in costume, and thought the history project was a great idea.

“When she wears the costumes it really impresses a lot of people because of how much she knows about history, and the places she's been,” Corrina said with a smile. “A lot of the kids here won't be able to go to other places. And this is really good for the first grade.”

Pinkston said she was inspired to begin this project with her current class as several of her students are very strong readers.

“This course will provide a great foundation for my students to learn history later on,” she said. “They may not remember the right name, but they'll remember the stories and the important facts about these women. And once they run into it again, it'll be easier to remember the information for a long time.”

Looking to the future, Pinkston said she plans to do her history program next year, in addition to possibly organizing a fifth- and sixth-grade project - and continue to bring historical women to life for today's students.

But this year, her first-grade students were not only entertained and educated by the women in history project, but also realized the possibilities in learning about history.

“I never knew about Harriet Tubman,” Grace said, flashing a smile, “and if I told someone about her, they might want to be just like her. That's really neat.”