HANCEVILLE — Elementary students don’t always know how many people are working to support them while they are in school, but students at Hanceville Elementary School were able to see many of the people who have their backs during an assembly Friday morning.

Speaking to a gathered crowd of students Friday morning, Hanceville Elementary Principal Susan Melton pointed out hundreds of the people in attendance, including friends and family, members of the community and staff from other schools and the county central office. She told them they — along with the many other people who were unable to attend due to other obligations — are always working to support the students.

“Is that not incredible?” she asked. “That there are that many important people who have your back.”

After showing the students who has their backs when they go to school every day, Melton encouraged them to embrace their educations and work hard every day.

“We are expecting huge things from this group,” she said. “We expect you to grow, to learn, to be the smartest kids in the county by the end of the year. So we want you to be curious, to have grit, to have determination, to have courage and do the work every single day.”

Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette also spoke to the students, and told them how everyone in attendance at the assembly is constantly working to make sure they succeed during their time at school.

“I want you to know that we are always keeping you in our minds, and we are praying for you and thinking about you all the time,” he said. “We cannot wait to see what all you can accomplish throughout the school year.”

After the assembly, students were sent through a Victory Line, which allowed all of the adults in attendance to cheer the students on as they returned to their classrooms to continue their hard work.

Melton, who is in her first year as principal of Hanceville Elementary, said she and the rest of the staff at the school have noticed all of the support that the community provides, from everything like the city council offering city workers to help out around the school or hosting its annual Kids’ Night Out to parents and other members of the community who donated extra school supplies for those in need.

“There were so many people in the community who were helping us, that we just wanted the kids to know,” she said. 

Because a lot of that support comes in the summer or from behind the scenes, she said she wanted to have the assembly to show the students just how many people are there to support them in their educations, and she was happy to see the turnout and response that everyone had.

“I thought it was amazing,” she said. “It was a wonderful morning. The kids know who’s got their back.”