Special to the Enquirer  

This year, middle schoolers in Hartselle Junior High’s American Characters program proved they are learning how to face challenges head on to accomplish great things. 

HJHS faculty and staff watched from the sidelines as students learned about historical characters who transformed America. Then, the students were challenged to begin transforming their communities and themselves through service projects – and they did both gracefully, despite the hurdles of COVID-19. 

If anything, the state of the world made their #GoodCharacter projects feel more urgent and more important than ever. 

In “normal” years, students gather with community members, mentors and peers to show off their service projects. They explain how they formed groups, identified problems, worked with local mentors and took action.  

This year, however, many of them also demonstrated just how clever and adaptable their generation is by using technology to showcase and share their powerful messages. 

Whether students explained their ideas and solutions from traditional expo booths or on video, they left their audience speechless. 

In addition to civics and character lessons learned in the program’s curriculum, students gained real-world practice in collaboration, service, empathy, compassion and communication. 

It was a proud moment for the Liberty Learning team, seeing firsthand how the second– and fifth-grade programs had paved the way for these middle schoolers to take ownership in their roles as citizens.  

Their ideas, ingenuity and determination showed America’s future is in good hands! 

This immersive educational experience is made possible because generous local and state sponsors understand these lessons must be taught despite time and budget constraints.