On the evening of April 29, the seventh graders of Charlotte Latin School exalted the people who are presences in their own lives — for a hallmark program of the Middle School called Everyday Heroes, each student delivered a speech about a person they greatly admire. “It’s an amazing project that gives the students the opportunity to consider what they value and who they value,” said Middle School English Teacher Dawn DiRoma. “They’re at an age when they’re becoming more aware of their place in the world and what they want their own contributions to the world to be.”

Many of the Everyday Heroes chosen by students were family members: parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles. The heroes installed speed limit signs to keep children safe in a residential neighborhood, navigated American culture as new arrivals in the country, tended beehives, founded an African-American bookstore in Alabama, and showed bravery in the face of illness. To prepare for their speeches, students interviewed their heroes, crafting questions about the traits that inspired them and learning more about a person they already knew was special.

Some students at the Everyday Heroes event spoke with more confidence than others, but all visibly took pride and strength from the presence of their heroes and other loved ones. “It’s a chance for the students to flip from analyzing the words of others to crafting their own message of appreciation and expressing their own values,” DiRoma said. “And it’s a time for our community to shine.”