We’ve never quite seen a bigger or more festive Super Citizen graduation celebration than the one we witnessed on Dec. 5, 2014 at Fort Payne Middle School! This is the school’s 3rd year participating in the program and, like other schools, they have made the event bigger and better than we ever imagined. From a high-energy student-led hip-hop-history song, to a courageously sung acapella “America the Beautiful,” this school became the benchmark for the Super Citizen Program and Torch Teams celebrations.
After the students participated in 10 weeks of civics, character, financial literacy, career and social studies lessons, it was time for the piece that brought all that learning together – and out into the community. The students formerd Torch Teams to nominate, carefully select and ultimately honor local heroes from stage.
The gratitude, and tears, were flowing. As students read essays and presented posters, they invited community leaders, school officials, soldiers, EMTs and more to join them on stage where they were awarded Authentic Liberty Replicas for their contributions to the community and the greater good.
We were like proud parents as we watched the program’s motto come to fruition: When you honor a hero, you become a hero.
On behalf of Liberty Learning Foundation and Fort Payne Middle School, we’d like to again thank Regions Bank for their generous support of education in Fort Payne.