Goshen and Pike Co. Elementary, along with Banks School, bussed into the Claudia Crosby Theatre Thursday for a performance from Liberty Learning Foundation’s Next Great Americans Tour. After the Pledge and National Anthem, nearly 500 students chanted, sang and clapped to welcome the star of the show to the stage. As Libby Liberty™ appeared to shrink on the video screens, she walked right off the screen and onto the stage. Over the next 45 minutes Libby brought histroy to life, lead the students in song and introduced them to the 10-week Super Citizen Program they will begin after today’s event.
Thanks to a county-wide donation from Troy Bank & Trust, schools in Troy & Pike Co. have received Super Citizen Program kits that help educators teach civics, character, social studies, financial literacy and careers in the shrinking sliver of time they have left after teach-to-test / STEM focus.
The students will also have a graduation celebration near the end of the school year that will see them honoring local heroes from stage. In that final piece of the program, called “Torch Teams,” students team up, nominate and honor everyday heroes from stage in front of peers, local VIPs, parents and more.
“I hope everyone returns for the celebration,” says Liberty Learning Foundation’s Becky Saunders. “It’s so emotionally charged and it’s the proof that students have taken everything they’ve learned about character and civics and are able to apply it in the real world … the heroes are honored and the students know what it feels like to give their appreciation. Or, like Torch Team’s motto says: “When you honor a hero, you become a hero.”