Elementary students begin Super Citizen program

Second and third graders from West Elementary and Russellville Elementary began Liberty Learning Foundation’s Super Citizen program during an event kickoff featuring Libby Liberty as the living embodiment of the Statue of Liberty.

France commissioned the statue in the late 1800s to mark the centennial of American independence and to celebrate the two nations’ shared democratic ideals.

Students entered wearing paper Statue of Liberty crowns and holding small American flags, which they waved during the program.

The program introduced a 10-week curriculum in civic responsibility, character development, financial literacy, and social studies.

The event included music, video presentations and the entrance of Libby Liberty. She spoke and led chanting and singing during the program.

The group sang songs, including “YOU in the USA,” and recited the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

Libby shared lines from “The New Colossus,” a poem by Emma Lazarus engraved inside the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal about the plight of immigrants seeking refuge in this country, among the lines — “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Libby, along with student volunteers, compared the length of the statue’s finger, about eight feet, to the size of a full car, giving a physical sense of the statue’s scale.

Tiffany Warhurst, principal at Russellville Elementary, said the program is meant to build a sense of pride alongside instruction in history and civics.

Warhurst said the program connects history and civics instruction with lessons in character, kindness and responsibility.

Warhurst said community support plays a role in making the program possible.

“We are incredibly grateful to our local sponsors who made this possible. We can’t wait to see the local heroes they will choose to honor at the end of the program.”