Lady Liberty sheds light on citizenship basics at OLPS, Westwego

“Tyranny” isn’t a word many youngsters can toss around, but fourth graders in the social studies classroom of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Westwego, teacher Jennifer Knecht, can define it, along with words such as “heritage,” “humanitarian” and “abolitionist.”

These are just a few of the lessons in basic civics, history and citizenship the fourth graders were taught via “Liberty’s Legacy,” an enrichment curriculum that uses the Statue of Liberty as a springboard for a lively study of America’s contributions to the world.

“This program took them out of their textbooks,” said Knecht, adding that the program was easy to integrate into her fourth graders’ study of the American states.

“They had a tendency to remember more of the little details because it was more interactive and more fun,” Knecht said. “For instance, a video introduced each of the words with kids saying the definitions, so it was more interactive than just looking them up in a dictionary.”

Knecht launched the program after her students’ 2013 Veterans Day observance and devoted one weekly period of class time to studying Liberty’s Legacy.

There are units on the military, American symbols and monuments, and on Lady Liberty herself, including factoids on what is inscribed on the tablet the statue is holding (“July 4, 1776,” in Roman numerals); what metal she is made out of (copper); and the date of her dedication (Oct. 28, 1886).

“Under her feet the chains of tyranny are broken so we can have freedom,” said fourth grader Kyron Marshall, who also learned that the seven rays of Lady Liberty’s crown represent the seven continents. The statue weighs in at a whopping 450,000 pounds, he added.

Geography and writing – two subjects that sometimes get short shrift in today’s classrooms – also were stressed, with each chapter inviting students to write a page-long essay. For example, in the unit on immigration, students were asked to describe a time where they had to wait for something for an extended period of time – as many immigrants had to do as they awaited medical and legal exams on Ellis Island, N.Y.

In addition to the academic component, the program has a strong entrepreneurial push, acquainting the fourth graders with money management skills and terms such as “interest,” “deposit” and “transaction.” They also were challenged to raise real money for a special project.

“Their goal was to recognize three local heroes,” said Knecht, explaining how her students nominated, campaigned for and elected the three heroes and set a fund-raising goal of $105 to purchase mini-replicas of the Statue of Liberty to give to them at an April 4 tribute.

The fourth graders planned the entire event, raising twice their fund-raising goal through three bake sales. The youngsters tracked the funds and advertised the sales to the student body.

“They did all of the fundraising, and representatives from the class made all the arrangements with (Salesian Sister Suzanne Miller, school principal),” Knecht said. “They basically did everything themselves.”

The following local heroes were honored by the class: Brandy Coulon, an oncological nurse at West Jefferson Hospital; Steve Blanchard, school custodian; and Brooke Trosclair, a volunteer at local animal shelters. The three were chosen after the students were taught the “super citizen” traits of high ethics, generosity, responsibility and perseverance.

“Ms. Coulon does so much for the people in the hospitals. She knows what they’ve been through,” said fifth grader Madison Langlinais. “It hurts some of us to see people with cancer, but she helps them a lot.”

Kyron, who had the job of introducing Blanchard at the ceremony, said the experience helped him get over his stage fright – a goal he set for himself after learning that heroic people typically are those who set both long- and short-term goals for themselves.

“Mr. Steve puts all his hard work into this school to make it nice, and he cleans up after the mess we made,” Kyron said of Blanchard. “He never complains about the mess.”