Knighting ceremony honors AES students

By Bobby Horn Jr.
news@casscountynow.com

It’s not every day you see a knight in shining armor walking the halls of Rabbit-land, but that was exactly what happened May 20 when Barry Owens, founder of Knight Vision-- a character education program and son Sir Mitchell, came to Atlanta Elementary.
“Sir Barry,” as he is known, was on campus to recognize students who exemplified the noble aspects of the historic knighthood, by practicing a code of a conduct that he called The Tools of Knighthood: I always sit up straight; I look my teacher in the eye; When my teacher is talking, I’m not; When my teacher asks me to do something, “Yes Ma’am! Yes Sir! And I keep my hands to myself.”
“We are here to recognize young people who have made some really right choices,” he added.
He said it boiled down to a two-word question and a two-word response. “Do what? Do right!”
Twice a year Owens visits the school, where he speaks to the students about making good decisions. The highlight of the assembly was naming of the pages, squires and knights. Each semester, one student is nominated by their homeroom teacher to be a “squire.”
“Squires are the ones who always strive to be their best,” AES Counselor Amy Holland said.
This semester’s squires are: 2nd grade- Trey Horn, Cortlin Rogers, Ethan Harper, Diana Miranda, Elizabeth Bickham, Jayda Blaylock and Tilly Shelton; 3rd grade- Syriana Butterfield, Logan Sanders, Joshua White, Blaire Kelley, Kierra Young and Diego Olvera; 4th grade- Lanie Kesterson, Tanijah Young, Kelsey Nash, Tea Richardson and Hannah Wall.
The next group of students recognized was the pages. Students from each grade were selected for this honor.
“Pages,” Holland said. “They are the spirits that never give up.”
Second semester pages are: 2nd grade- Juana Olalde and Marshawn Woodbury; 3rd grade- Alex Rodriguez and Kheaton Kinney and 4th grade- Mason Frost.
“Being a knight is a matter of the heart,” Sir. Barry said. “It is about the choices they made. These young people have earned their way to this stage.”
Students granted “knighthood” were 2nd grade- Rylea Moro, Justin Bagley, Addison Spencer, Ella Stewart, Averi King, Alli Kindred and Brooklynn Bailey; 3rd grade- Zoe Hearron, Gabriella Sanchez, Anna Davis, Will Davis, Aidan Boston and Skailer Gonzalez; 4th grade- Autumn Cook, Dimoree Limbreck, Skye Matteson, Kym Sheppard and Nathan Byrd.
Sir Barry, in duplicating a ceremony that he said had roots going back 800 years, laid the flat of his sword blade on the shoulders of the new knights three times, then invited each to light a candle.
The symbolism of the candle, he said, is that whenever the world looks the darkest, people will always look to the light and these new “knights” represented the light. He also urged students to always seek to do what is right, even when people around them try to convince them otherwise.
Sir Barry concluded the ceremony by encouraging students to promise to do three things this summer: play hard, swim a lot and read 10 minutes a day.