Latoya McGriff wanted to do more than just teach about Black history to her first-grade students, she wanted them to see important historical figures in a realistic depiction, so she decided to bring them to life herself.

Her way of doing it? She decided to dress up as a different Black historical figure for each of the 29 days of Black History Month this year.

"I decided to dress up for Black History Month so that the kids are actually seeing a live person from history," McGriff, who teaches at Creekside Elementary School in Suffolk, Virginia, told Good Morning America. "I just wanted to bring history alive for the kids."

An educator for 12 years, McGriff says that a majority of her school’s population is Black, so she wanted to emphasize the importance of representation in history.

"It is important for the children to see that people who look like them have made contributions because it reassures them that they can, too.” McGriff said. “It's hard to believe in something you don't see.”

The outfits McGriff dons each day are meant to provoke conversations about the particular figures. Students ask questions when they see the outfits and want to learn more.

The intuitive approach to teaching is even more thoughtful when you consider McGriff likes to choose figures local to Virginia. Her personal favorite? Mary Jackson.

"Mary Jackson personally influenced me because of her struggle," she said. "She was known as a human computer, yet she wasn't even allowed in meetings because of the color of her skin and because she was a woman. Yet, she prevailed."

Jackson was a mathematician and aerospace engineer for NASA in the 1950s. She played a large and widely unrecognized role in sending the first astronaut into orbit. Her life was portrayed in the 2016 film Hidden Figures by Janelle Monae.

Other well-known African American figures McGriff has portrayed include Misty Copeland, Ella Fitzgerald and Barack Obama. She’s also given recognition to those who are lesser-known, like James Lafayette, who was a former slave turned spy during the Revolutionary War. 

Aside from historical figures, McGriff is also honoring historically black colleges and universities and historically Black Greek-letter organizations.

McGriff graduated from Hampton University in 2006 and was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha during her time in college, so the two institutions are personally relevant to her.

"[Learning about these organizations] gives children something to look up to, and they get excited about wanting to go to school and get to college," McGriff told GMA. "I hope that [the students] learn, no matter the circumstances, they can make a difference in this world. No matter where they come from, how they look, they can make a difference."

McGriff hopes all the attention she’s received from television and social media will bring more awareness and creativity in teaching about BHM in schools nationwide.

"I hope that [people who see the story] will implement some type of Black History Month program in their school," McGriff said. "They don't have to dress up like I did … but, I just want people to incorporate black history so that other students of color can see themselves represented in history."