While walking through the front doors of the school, or on your way to the library, you may have noticed a new addition to the walls of Panther Creek. There is now an assortment of documents adorning the brick wall in front of the library. These are not just for decoration, these are thirty of our nation’s most defining documents. Together, the make up the Freedom Shrine.

According to the Exchange Club of America, “The Freedom Shrine’s purpose is to remind all Americans that the freedoms which they enjoy today are, in essence, a gift from the past.” -Dedication of the Freedom Shrine program.

On Friday, there was a dedication of the Freedom Shrine in the lobby. It began with an introduction by Mike Thomas, Panther Creek’s student body vice president, then a introduction by Dr. Hedrick to our keynote speaker, Dr. Talmadge Brown, President of Swift Creek Exchange Club, who then went on to give a speech about North Carolina’s involvement in the development of the United States of America and an introduce the keynote addresser, JC Knowles. Mr. Knowles also gave a speech about North Carolina’s involvement and how this country is well built. He addressed the seniors at Panther Creek by yelling “Wake up!” because we’ve had many people fight for the freedoms we enjoy. We need to do our best, study hard, and achieve much. He gave a very motivational speech for everyone who was there and gave wonderful advice. Soon after, the Panther Creek chorus performed two songs, one being Panther Creek alma mater, new this year.

PCNN interviewed Dr. Hedrick after the dismissal of the ceremony to get some more insight on the Freedom Shrine. When asked what inspired the freedom wall, Hedrick explained “Incidental Learning”, learning without the intent of learning, such as a student can learn from the posters a teacher has in their classroom. Students and parents waiting in the lobby for whatever reason can now look at the wall, and learn valuable information, creating a community of people who know and value their nation’s history. Hedrick is a big advocate for the use of primary resources in school. When she taught latin, she found it more educational to use primary documents. “It’s better to read Caesar than to be told about it…” because secondary resources are interpreted, and interpreting documents is a skill students should acquire on their own. Hedricks wants students to have a look at the documents first hand.  People come to the United State and aren’t fully aware of our history. Students, and even parents can see the powerful documents that shaped the nation they have come to first hand.

Another thing Hedrick hopes the wall will do is inspire students to become involved in their community, like the two of the Cary community leaders in attendance. They are unpaid and have other jobs, but they still serve. We asked Dr. Hedricks what the process of putting up the wall was like. She explained that the swift exchange club assembled the wall, saying  “All of the speakers were apart of the Swift Exchange Club, besides me and Mikey.”

Panther Creek was the only school Dr. Hedrick had taught at without a freedom wall, and now we have one!

Gallery • 14 Photos

Rachel Park

Dr. Brown gives speech to audience.