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Elm Street Elementary held a
first-ever ‘Patriot’s Day” Friday for the school’s students –
memorializing September 11 during a 9:00 a.m. school assembly,
and honoring several ‘hometown heroes’ in the process. The school also received new flags to be flown in front. Representative Lynn Smith – who was part of the school’s assembly – presented a new United States flag which had flown in Elm Street’s honor over the U.S. capitol, courtesy of U.S. senator Johnny Isakson, and presented a new Georgia flag which had flown over the state capitol building recently, courtesy of Representative Smith. Cub Scout Pack 41 was onstage at Elm Street’s cafeteria to accept the flags from Smith on behalf of the school. School Counselor Janet Fagan and Principal Christie Hildebrand planned the Patriot Day ceremony. “We wanted to hold an assembly because of the 10th anniversary, and we wanted the kids involved,” said Fagan. ‘We also needed a new flag, and we didn’t have a Georgia flag to fly on our flag pole, so it was fortunate that Representative Smith and Senator Isakson helped us and provided two wonderful flags for the day.” Students heard the history of the U.S. and Georgia flags, patriotic essays, and the history of the September 11 attacks during the assembly, presented by fellow students. Students stood for a moment of silence, sang the Star Spangled Banner led by Merry Todd, Cathy Wright and Carol Glover, sang and sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and “This Land is Your Land,’ as led by chorus teacher Joshua Tate. The school also honored several “home-town heroes” from law enforcement and first-responder organizations from around the area. Honorees included: Jim Beneke- Newnan Police Department Greg VanSant- Newnan Police Department Chad Wood- Newnan Police Department Patricia Ayers- Newnan Police Department Chief Buster Meadows- Newnan Police Department Sheriff Mike Yeager- Coweta County Sheriff’s Office Winston Porter- City of Newnan Fire Department Bradley Haralson- Newnan Fire Department Shannon Brock- Newnan Fire Department Adam Cash- Newnan Fire Department Michael Jackson- Warner Robbins Fire Department Elm Street’s student council organization and the Girl scouts and Boy Scouts of America helped organize Friday’s program. Elm Street was one of several schools around Coweta County that held similar programs on Friday. All Coweta Schools flew their flags at half-mast on Friday, and observed a moment of silence called for by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, in memory of Sunday’s 10-year anniversary of 9/11.  Elm Street Elementary held a first-ever ‘Patriot’s Day” Friday for the school’s students – memorializing September 11 during a 9:00 a.m. school assembly, and honoring several ‘hometown heroes’ in the process. Students sang the Star Spangled Banner led by Merry Todd, Cathy Wright and Carol Glover during the assembly (pictured) The school also received new state and U.S. flags which have flown over the respective Capitol buildings, presented by Georgia general Assembly Representative Lynn Smith (also pictured, presented by members of Cub scout pack 41). |