CULLMAN, Ala. – Beginning fall 2021, Cullman will be embarking on a mission in preparing students to be life, career, and citizen ready. The Liberty Learning Foundation has developed several educational courses to be newly implemented within Cullman City Schools for both seventh and ninth graders.
Several years ago, Liberty Learning Foundation began working with Cullman City’s second graders in the Super Citizen/Hands-on Learning Program, an immersive 10-week civics and character-building program which provides guidance with the help of videos and accompanying lesson plans. The focus of this program is to provide perspective on important roles they play within the country’s future. Parents are encouraged to become a part of this transformative process. At the end, students are given the opportunity to nominate and honor local heroes at their public graduation celebration.
Alabama State Senator Garlan Gudger shared his support of Liberty Learning Foundation, stating, “After hearing about these programs, I made it a personal mission to ensure it was offered to our community’s children. So, I pulled together leaders from the school system and the City of Cullman to consider ways to bring these programs to Cullman. As a history buff and a father of young children, I value the importance of civics, character and careers. In fact, I believe these are some of the most important lessons our students can learn while in school.”
The Cullman Tribune has partnered with Liberty Learning Foundation as the official media partner. Publisher Noah Galilee spoke of the partnership saying, “As a local newspaper, it is important to give back to the communities which have given us so much over the years. When approached with the concept of being Liberty Learning’s official media partner, we jumped at the opportunity simply due to the company’s connection to education. As print circulation slowly fades, we will be left mostly with digital platforms, one of which most under 30-year-old readers use on a minute-by-minute basis. To better serve the community and its readers, it is important to work directly with schools and institutions to help students work through real-world situations and workplace issues in order to better secure a knowledgeable workforce. The Cullman Tribune is honored to be the official media partner of Liberty Learning. We look forward to better serving our communities and producing more content and information.”
The new programs that are beginning this fall are the American Character Program for seventh grade and the Citizen Promise Program for grades 9-12. The American Character Program is designed to be a continuation of the curricula provided in younger programs. American Character provides more context for students by studying the lives and accomplishments of great American characters. Students also learn more essential skills by having the opportunity to present their projects to peers, press and parents at the #GoodCharacters Expo at the program’s conclusion.
The Citizen Promise Program is designed for grades 9-12 and will be beginning with Cullman High School’s ninth grade class this fall. The program is equal parts career and essential skill preparation, and civic-service activation.
With the Citizen Promise Program, students will learn more in-depth lessons in civics, character, financial literacy and develop accountability and trajectory of their own futures. As the program grows with this year’s ninth grade class, there will be community mentors assisting in the classroom to provide resume and job application-bolstering opportunities. Cullman High School is only the second pilot in Alabama for ninth grade.
Alongside Senator Gudger, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs also praised the programs, saying, “These programs will benefit our community for decades to come, and that is why I have given my full support to making Cullman one of the first communities in Alabama to offer the Liberty Learning programs to students elementary through high school.”
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