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Hernando Today

What Freedom Means To Me

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: September 27, 2008

SPRING HILL - Did you know that the U.S. Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson when he was 33 years old?

Kathy Marcucci's students at Powell Middle School do.

After spending the Florida Legislature's "Celebrate Freedom" week studying the document, that was one of the facts gleaned by sixth- and eighth-grade students and written on a gigantic American flag on the wall of the school's cafeteria.

But this was no ordinary flag.

The project was carefully pieced together and constructed from 300 sheets of red, white and blue construction paper, with each piece of paper displaying individual bits of knowledge learned during the week.

"Fifty-six people signed it, including John Hancock," wrote one of the students.

"It is said that Hancock signed his name very large because he wanted King George III to be able to read it without his glasses," another student wrote.

Marcucci, a U.S. history teacher who led the project for the first time this year, said she was pleasantly surprised at how much the students absorbed, and how truthfully creative their answers were.

"Before this week, I never understood how dangerous it was - what the signers of the Declaration were doing," a student wrote. "If we had lost the revolution, they would have been convicted of treason and most likely hung. It was very brave and noble of them. They are true American heroes."

The student's names were hidden and not visible to those viewing the project, but when it went up in the cafeteria Thursday, no one was more excited than those that created it, Marcucci said.

"It turned out awesome," she said. "They really 'got' what the declaration is all about."

The Declaration is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were no longer a part of the British Empire. The birthday of the nation - Independence Day - is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
Florida lawmakers first introduced Celebrate Freedom Week in 2002, with the last full week of classes in September set aside for K-12 teachers to focus on America's founding freedoms and teach the significance of the Declaration.

The program also encourages teachers to lead students in the daily recitation of the first 58 words of the Declaration, which Marcucci's students did each day as part of the school's morning announcements.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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