By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

This Friday more than 50 fifth graders at Fort Deposit Elementary will gather to celebrate completing the 10-week Liberty Learning Foundation Super Citizen Program and will recognize their own specially selected heroes.

The program, which teaches students the importance of their roles in America’s future, was sponsored by the Alabama Power Foundation. And. according to Barbara Sumner, director of Public Affairs for the Liberty Learning Foundation, not only did the Alabama Power Foundation contribute the funds to have the program in the classroom and to support the kickoff last January, but Alabama Power representatives donated their time in the classroom.

She said the Alabama Power representatives spoke about their jobs, what they do and read to the children each week.

Sumner said last January, Alabama Power Foundation funds brought Lady Liberty to Fort Deposit Elementary School. She said Lady Liberty arrived on the Liberty Learning Foundation’s Next Great Americans Tour Bus and presented a high-energy theatrical show, which set the stage for lessons in character building, financial literacy and civics.

“We are just so fortunate to have them (Alabama Power) as a partner,” Sumner said.

Rod Cater is the business office manager for Alabama Power in Fort Deposit, Greenville and Georgiana.

He said volunteers in the classroom from the three local Alabama Power offices, including himself, included Aimee Sellers, Kim Vickery, Patricia Ray, Carey Holland, Susan Lambert and Kelsey Williams.

Cater said through the Alabama Power Foundation, the funds were made available to have the program offered, which included the kickoff, materials used in the classroom and the upcoming graduation celebration this Friday.

On Friday, Sumner said students, faculty, and community leaders at Fort Deposit Elementary will gather to sing patriotic songs, take the Super Citizen Pledge and receive their graduation certificates.

“And in perhaps the most inspirational portion of the celebration,” she said, “students who participated on ‘Torch Teams’ will present Liberty Replicas (complete with a heart made from authentic materials from the Statue of Liberty’s centennial restoration) to heroes they nominated from the community.” She said, “Classes teamed up to shine a light on real American heroes.”

Liberty Learning Foundation founder Patti Yancey said, “The idea is real-world application of all the lessons they learn in the Super Citizen Program. By studying the character of these heroes, they improve their own character.”

She also said, “And a lot of times our Torch Teams nominate people who have never seen themselves as ‘heroes.’ So, the experience that happens when students bring them on stage is really exciting and humbling … for both the students and the heroes they honor.”

Yancey said, “While this celebration will congratulate these Super Citizens for a job well done, it’s also designed as a reminder that the opportunities and responsibilities we all have as American citizens never end.”

Bessie Morgan is the principal at Fort Deposit Elementary.