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Hilltop third-graders honor famous Americans
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A third-grade Hilltop Elementary School student portrayed Penny Chenery during the school’s annual Famous Americans program on June 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A Hilltop Elementary School third-grader carried the U.S. Army flag for the “Armed Forces Salute” during the school’s annual Famous Americans program on June 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Two Hilltop Elementary School third-grade students depicted Orville and Wilbur Wright during the school’s annual Famous Americans program on June 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School third-grade students sang patriotic songs during the school’s annual Famous Americans program on June 2.
By ABBY SLANKER
Hilltop Elementary School third-grade students honored famous Americans, past and present, during the school’s 30th annual Famous Americans program on June 2.
“Welcome to our third-grade Famous Americans Program. Our third-graders have put a lot of work into this program. They put the most work in of all our shows, I think, with their research and learning about their Famous American. I‘d like to thank the third-grade teachers, Mr. Scurich and Courtney Larson for all the time they put into the program, too. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show,” said Joe Maroni, Hilltop Elementary School principal.
Each third-grade student was dressed in a costume to portray a famous American figure of his or her choice. The students researched their choice, wrote a speech about him or her and created a costume to wear during the program.
The students chose a range of famous Americans, from entertainers to presidents, from singers to athletes, from stage and screen legends to inventors, from artists to authors and from military heroes to astronauts.
Some of the famous Americans chosen by the students included John F. Kennedy, Sacagawea, Babe Ruth, Chris Kyle, Judy Garland, Betsy Ross, Jackie Robinson, Oliver Hazard Perry, Elizabeth Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie and Wyatt Earp.
To start the show, the Parade of Flags was presented. As a carrier and a guard escorted the flag down the aisle, a narrator gave the history of each flag. Flags presented included Continental, Gadsden, Grand Union, Betsy Ross, St. George’s Cross, King’s Colors, British Red Ensign, Bennington, Star Spangled Banner, Perry’s Flag, Alamo 1824, Bunker Hill, Rhode Island Regiment, Fort Moultrie, Stars and Bars, Confederate Battle, “48 Star” and Old Glory.
A student welcomed the audience to the show and led them in the Pledge of Allegiance.
By class, each student took his or her turn at the microphone to give their memorized speech, which included facts which identified his or her famous American, as if the famous American were speaking.
After each class had finished their speeches, the students joined together to sing, led by music teacher Tom Scurich and accompanied by Courtney Larson. Songs included “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Sing a Song of Peace,” “Fifty, Nifty United States,” “Armed Forces Salute” and “God Bless America.”
During “Armed Forces Salute,” Scurich asked members and veterans of the armed forces to stand when their branch of military anthem was sung.
“Parents, grandparents and friends, welcome to our third-grade Famous Americans program. Our next selection is a tribute to the armed forces. I would like to invite our honored veterans, or family members of veterans, in the audience to stand when the anthem which represents your branch of the armed services in which you served is sung,” Scurich said.
Before the “Armed Forces Salute” commenced, Scurich asked for a moment of silence as the POW/MIA flag was presented.
As each anthem was performed during the salute, students presented the Army flag, Coast Guard flag, Marine flag, Air Force flag and Navy flag.
As a grand finale to the show, the students unfolded and held up red, white and blue strips to form a giant paper American flag, much to the delight of audience members, triggering a standing ovation for the students.