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A Hero Among Us
The Franklin County School Board met last Monday night with a packed house and a full agenda. There was much to discuss and several presentations were made however midway through the meeting the audience and school board had an opportunity to hear from a special guest, Mr. Jeromiah Russ. Young Russ, a FCS 3rd grader from Ms. Smith's class was invited to attend the meeting by school administration after hearing of his compassion, quick thinking and willingness to help during a safety drill conducted on campus earlier in the month.
There is a saying, "No man is an island" and apparently no third grader is either, even if he doesn’t speak English. Jeromiah Russ's compassion and concern for a new student in his classroom makes him a hero for grownups and kids alike.
As our nation, community, law enforcement and school grapples with the renewed safety precautions, a combination of Jeromiah's resourcefulness, his teacher's nurturing classroom and infusion of technology, allowed a code red drill to transform fear into understanding.
Jeromiah’s story, as he described at the meeting, follows. The class discussed the drill and how they could prepare their new classmate who is not familiar with the drill and doesn’t speak English. Jeromiah explained, "I got my Chromebook and used google translator and typed in ‘Come play hide and seek with me and I will come find you.’ When the drill came on, he knew exactly what to do." Young Russ went on to say that once the drill was over his classmate "waited for me to come find him" and that his teacher called him a hero that day! He ended with these remarks to the Board, "Thank you for making sure that we are safe and for providing Chromebooks so that we can help each other."
Clearly, Jeromiah is a hero, but there is another hero in this story too. Ms. Smith, his teacher, through preparation for the drill ensured their safety and minimized their fear. However, she routinely encourages her students to problem solve with her thereby fostering the idea that they are all a team-each with talents and responsibilities. She has created a Seahawk family environment that allowed Jeromiah the freedom to use the resources around him and share his idea to help someone else.
Before returning to his seat, Jeromiah stood next to Assistant Principal Mr. Rob Wheetley for a picture as the audience stood and applauded. "No man is an island" and as Jeromiah's story shows, neither is any student, teacher, or staff member at Franklin County School because FCS will remember this strategy and Russ's attitude and feel safer and inspired because of it.