Liberty Elementary School
Every spring for the past 23 years, the fourth-grade students at Liberty Elementary School in Franklin put on their game gear and “take the ice,” or in this case the gym floor, for the Liberty Cup hockey tournament. This annual event will take place on Friday, April 3, at 2:15 PM, and is preceded by weeks of preparation in physical education classes, where the students learn the game and develop the finer skills of passing and shooting.
As an added thrill, several of the Centennial High School hockey players will be on hand to coach, referee and cheer the players on from the floor. Some of these players are former Liberty Elementary students who have gone on to become the 2009 GNASH (Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey) Cup Champions.
“We are really excited this year to have some of our former students who have gone on to play for the Centennial High School hockey team returning to be a part of our final games,” said physical education teacher Melissa Stillings. “The students look forward to this day from the time they are in kindergarten and watch the 4th graders play for the first time.” Stillings said the Liberty Cup tournament has become a “rite of passage” for the students as they prepare to leave the K-4 school for 5th grade at Freedom Intermediate.
The fourth-grade classes are divided into teams of 6 or 7 players. Teams choose a name and make posters to hang in the gym. A round robin tournament is played and the students track their teams wins, losses, and ties. The first- and second-place teams from each physical education class get to play in the championship game, the Liberty Cup, in front of the entire school.
Liberty Elementary School is part of the Franklin Special School District and serves approximately 450 students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grades. It is located at 600 Liberty Pike in Franklin and can be reached by calling 790-0892. The FSSD is a pre-K-8 public school system with serving 3,850 students in seven schools. For more information about the district, please visit www.fssd.org on the Internet.
