Holley fifth-grader Sarah Saeli tries her hand at reading Braille as she portrays Helen Keller. Students in Jennifer Gibson's class chose people they thought of as heroes to portray for Hero Day. They gave speeches about their heroes and were inducted into "The Hero Hall of Fame."

Hero for a day

Jennifer Gibson's fifth-grade class at Holley Elementary School knows what it takes to be a great hero. As part of the fifth-grade requirements for language arts, they were reading biographies and autobiographies on famous people when Gibson decided to integrate the assignment with the school's character education program. "The students not only had to look at facts about a person's life, but whether he or she fits the criteria for being a hero," said Gibson. "They really had to do some soul searching and examine what they feel it takes to be a hero."

The students chose their heroes, researched them, then on Hero Day gave speeches in class and were then inducted into "The Hero Hall of Fame." The students stayed in character all day and talked to other students about why the people they were portraying are heroes. "The activity really fit in with what our school is doing with character education because we're asking students to be good role models," said Leslie Piedmonte, consult teacher.

Students chose heroes such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Ruby Bridges, Helen Keller and Mohondes Gandhi. Their focus was not about how much money the person made, but what he or she did to have a positive effect on people. "Hopefully, the students have changed their minds about what it takes to be a hero," said Gibson. "It's not just about being a sports figure or rock star."