Madison City fifth-graders kick off Super Citizen program

MADISON — Hundreds of fifth-graders from several elementary schools in Madison convened in the Bob Jones High School auditorium this morning to learn what it takes to become “super citizens.”

The students showed spirit and enthusiasm as they sang, danced, listened and learned about the role of freedom and liberty in the history of the United States. Special guest Libby Liberty also paid a visit to help students learn interesting facts about the Statue of Liberty and what she has symbolized for countless immigrants who have given everything for a chance at a new life in the United States.

“There are chains wrapped around my feet … but these chains are broken,” Libby Liberty taught. “They symbolize freedom from oppression—that we, as American citizens, have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

These lessons were all in preparation for the Huntsville-based Liberty Learning Foundation’s Super Citizen program, which the students will spend the next few weeks delving into in order to learn why it’s important to be super citizens in their schools and communities.

The next time they all come back together, April 18, they will have matured in their civic duties and grown in their knowledge of liberty. They will also bring a few exemplary guests with them to honor.

“The Liberty Learning Foundation is on a mission to make sure that you are excited to learn about our country’s history and the important role that you will all play in its future,” Jessica Quillin of the Liberty Learning Foundation told Madison’s fifth-graders. “After all, you will be the next great Americans.”

After a couple fifth-graders led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance, members of the Bob Jones High School chorus sang the national anthem under the direction of chorus teacher Randall Fields.

At the end of the event, Libby Liberty led the crowd in singing and dancing to the program’s signature song, “You in the U.S.A.,” with the help of a few student volunteers. The students in the crowd rose to their feet and sang their hearts out in the high-energy musical number.

Before the students headed back to their classrooms, Quillin returned to bring students’ attention to three important words: citizen, community and appreciation. With this, Quillin explained various ways students can start making a positive difference in their community.

“You don’t have to wait until you grow up,” she told them. “Maybe your school is already doing something like that. Maybe your school is doing a coat drive or a canned food drive, or maybe you’re just doing something with a different organization that you’re in to help those in your community that are in need. You could even do things in your classroom to be a good citizen in your community, like just being a friend to someone who’s new in the school or helping keep it clean or showing everyone respect. Those are ways that you can start right now, in the fifth grade, being good citizens in all the communities that you belong to.”

For Liberty Learning Foundation’s vice president, John Kvach, and Tawanna Vickers, tour and events director for Liberty Learning, the Super Citizens program is meaningful in its mission to teach children that no matter who they are or where they come from, they are an integral part of their communities and have a responsibility to leave a positive impact.

“It doesn’t matter what walk of life that they are from, what their ethnicity is, what their background is, what their socioeconomic [status] is—it doesn’t matter,” Vickers said following a kickoff last year in Madison County. “We all have the same opportunities and the same freedoms to be what we want to be and to do what we want to do and to impact our communities, which is one of the biggest things that we want these kids to walk away from this program with—to impact and change the lives of their communities in a positive way.”

During the program, these students will get into “Torch Teams,” and their teachers will lead them through various lessons in civics, character, financial literacy, career development and American history. According to Vickers, the teachers are trained in advance by a member of Liberty Learning’s education team who has more than 30 years of experience as an educator. In addition, teachers will help their students understand the characteristics that comprise a “real-life hero.”

The Liberty Learning Foundation believes that “when you honor a hero, you become a hero.” With this belief in mind, students will have the opportunity to nominate and vote on their own super citizen heroes. At the end of the program, when the students come back together and take the stage themselves, they will introduce the heroes they chose and honor them with a small Statue of Liberty replica. This replica is extra special, as it contains a heart made of the same material from the real Statue of Liberty in New York City.

“It’s just a really good time for these kids to shine, to show what they learned, to show that they are ready to be active, engaged and empowered citizens of our country and our state and our communities,” Vickers said.

For Kvach, a former history professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the opportunity to instill these values in children made his transition to vice president of Liberty Learning worthwhile.

“I’m still able to use my skills as a historian and as an educator to show them that … good citizenship is something that still matters,” he said after the Madison County kickoff.

According to their website, Liberty Learning Foundation has impacted more than 150,000 students in 472 schools and communities across Alabama since 2010. To learn more about this nonprofit and its mission, visit libertylearning.org.

To view more photos from the event, visit libertylearning.org/liberty-learning-news.