A dedication to freedom

COSTA MESA — Those who doubt the power of literacy might want to check out the display installed this week at Victoria Elementary School.

The exhibit, known as the Freedom Shrine, features the documentation of 29 essential moments in American history — some in longhand, some typewritten, some with words inserted and others blotted out. Each of the documents may have started as a rough draft, but each one has had an indelible effect. Among the photocopied images are the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation and the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

“It’s a wonderful tribute to the power of the pen,” said Victoria Principal Judy Laakso, who held an assembly Wednesday morning to dedicate the Freedom Shrine in the multipurpose room. “Basically, our history is based on the foundation of those Freedom Shrine documents.”

The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor, a community service club that belongs to a nationwide affiliate, provided the Freedom Shrine to Victoria Elementary. The club has already provided copies of the 29 documents to more than a dozen Newport-Mesa schools.

B. Steven Peterson, an Exchange Club member who built fighter planes during World War II, coordinated the ceremony Wednesday. William Bechtel, the president of the Exchange Club, spoke on the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, while the school’s Boy Scouts walked in the American flag.

Most of the students attending the morning assembly were fifth-graders, who are studying American history this year. Recently, teachers had them take an American history test provided by the Exchange Club, with 50 questions based on the information in the documents. The students who scored the highest got special plaques on Wednesday.

Hailey Bond, 10, was among the winners, nailing 30 of the questions. She admitted, though, that luck played a part in it.

“I guessed on most of them,” she said. “Some I knew.”