There are now more than 260 “super citizens” attending Chelsea Park Elementary after second and fifth-grade students recently graduated from the Liberty Learning Foundation’s Super Citizen Program.

The school held separate assemblies on November 12 to recognize the students for graduating from the 10-week program and to recognize community members who exhibit the same “super citizen” traits the students learned about in the program.

The Super Citizens Program is offered by the Liberty Learning Foundation, a non-profit organization which donates civic-based teaching tools to educators and facilitates learning experiences that teach, inspire and empower the next generation of great Americans.  The educational toolkit provides educators with resources to help teach students about history, civics, character education, financial literacy and career readiness in fun and exciting ways.

“I think we can never give our children too much information regarding the history of our country,” said Principal Jennette Campisi-Snider. “I felt like it was important for our children to learn about our country’s past in order to prepare them for their future.  The students absolutely loved this program!”

The Statue of Liberty is a symbolic focal point for all Liberty’s Legacy programs.  The Liberty Foundation website states that the statue is an enduring symbol of freedom and is the embodiment of the ideas and ideals our country is founded upon.

During the recent assemblies, students honored adults they selected as examples of American heroes. and presented them with torch pins and Statue of Liberty replicas.  Citizens who were recognized included ABC 33/40 Chief Meteorologist James Spann; CPES school resource officer Bill Mullins; Dr. Leslie Sawyer from Pathway Pediatrics; CPES Gifted Resource Teacher teacher Vickey Bailey; and Campisi-Snider.

“I didn’t know that I was being honored,” said Campisi-Snider. “I was very humbled.  The little boy that read the nomination said there were 23 students in his class and there were different reasons why they wanted me as their hero.  It was so sweet and I was so touched.”