“Everyone was excited about the program, because this is an extra piece of a puzzle that we need in our social studies for character education, building great Americans,” says Patricia Kornegay, Assistant Superintendent for Montgomery Elementary Schools. “This has been an essential part that we needed in our program so that we can help build sound citizens.”
On Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 530 students from James W. Wilson Elementary piled into the YMCA gymnasium; eagerly anticipating the arrival of Liberty Learning Foundation’s Next Great Americans Bus Tour and Lady Liberty herself!
These 5th grade students, press and community leaders gathered today to celebrate and mark the beginning of the 10-week Super Citizen Program they will begin when the bus rolls away. Students will learn civics, character, financial literacy, career exploration and our Great American Story. And to conclude the program, classes participate in project-based learning activities where they nominate, carefully select and, ultimately, honor local heroes on stage at graduation.
Thanks to a generous grant from Alabama Power Foundation, Liberty Learning delivered resource kits, trained teachers and is orchestrating emotional, unforgettable experiences like today’s kickoff and the graduation scheduled for April 30, 2014.
A huge thanks to Alabama Power’s Mike Jordan, Tony Love, Shalanda James, Joey Merritt, Clinton Johnson, Donna Collier, Delane Estes, Beverly Ross, and Patricia Korneagay for their commitment to Alabama’s youth and for taking time out of busy schedules to be with us today!
Meredith Bishop, principal at Wilson Elementary, reiterated the importance of strong corporate citizens like Alabama Power, “Thank you for the awesome experience to bring this into the schools, and to have everything at our hands, already planned. They do the legwork. They have the volunteers come in. To have that for a teacher is phenomenal. It’s one less thing that they have to do, because they already have so many things to do, that that’s an inviting thing and can be a breath of fresh air, and it’s already there for them, and we’re connecting with community as well.”
“Alabama Power is wonderful,” says district 7 school board member. “They are so involved in community, not only in the school system, but other community service activities also. And they also do good and serve the community very well.”