A little girl from Dillon, South Carolina gets a hero’s welcome today in her hometown—after being given a standing ovation by the nation’s political leaders. Ty-sheoma Bethea featured prominently in President Barack Obama’s joint address to Congress.
“And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, ‘We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.'”
Bethea sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech and today, she returned to JV Martin Junior High School for a special welcome home celebration led by state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.