This past week, our Junior Justice League class of 2023, Project EPIC (Empowered Peacemakers Inspiring Change), completed our annual Bibb County Courthouse Tour, with the addition this year of a tour of the Tubman Museum, where we delved into history, explored the power of good choices, and learned directly from leaders in our community.
We began the day at the Tubman Museum, where we were transported back in time to learn about the remarkable life of Harriet Tubman and the choices she made to lead people to freedom who were once enslaved. We stopped at the Reading Room gifted by Leadership Macon’s class of 2022, where DA Howard read the book “All Because You Matter” to our students. We concluded the museum tour with the amazing Tyler Perry exhibit, where we each made a wish on a paper airplane, imagining what our futures could look like if we apply ourselves and dare to hope we have the courage to create the life we dream.
From the Tubman Museum, our Project EPIC Students toured different offices within our judicial system. We visited the Office of the Bibb County Superior Court Clerk where we met Superior Court Clerk, Erica Woodford and learned about county records and research as well as the process for jury selection for the courtrooms. We then visited Superior Court Judge Jeffery O. Monroe’s courtroom, where he shared wisdom and insights, including the importance of making good decisions. Judge Monroe spoke directly and passionately to our students, “When you make bad choices, someone ELSE is going to start making choices for you,” emphasizing the necessity to practice making wise and honorable decisions so they are not restricted in pursuing the futures they wish for themselves.
We concluded the day on the stage of the historic Grand Opera House, enjoying lunch with Bibb County Sheriff David Davis and DA Howard. Our Project EPIC students left with a powerful understanding: that our choices are the seeds of change. Just as Harriet Tubman made choices that echoed through history, we too possess the ability to make choices that shape our lives and those of others. Each step of this tour served as a reminder of how each choice these children make can bring them closer to their dreams, and how they, too, can Inspire Change in their communities, just like the leaders they were able to meet face to face!
For more information about the Junior Justice League visit the Junior Justice League page on our website.
