Students bring social media stars to Willie J.

Published 8:56 am Tuesday, September 28, 2021

MOULTRIE, Ga. – Social media stars and veterans advocates visited Willie J. Williams Middle School Monday as part of student’s community outreach project. 

 

Retired Master Sgt. Palace Harris Jr. and his wife, Vivian Harris, who served in the Marines, and their two service dogs, Noah and Lincoln, visited Willie J. to speak with the students on time with the military, the service animals and how a positive attitude can shape a student’s future. Harris is a Moultrie native and graduated from Colquitt County High School before he joined the Marine Corps in 1997. He continued to serve until 2017 when he retired.

 

“I sat in the same seats you’re sitting in,” Harris said during the beginning of his presentation in the school’s cafeteria. “I ate my breakfast and lunch in the same chairs you sit in now.” The Harrises have garnered much success with their Instagram, TikTok and Youtube accounts that focus on educating people on the stigma of pitbulls and their training as service dogs. Currently, their TikTok account has seen the most success with more than 3 million followers, according to Palace. He, Vivian and their dogs, Noah and Lincoln, also appeared on Good Morning America in June.

 

“I think social media helps us connect to younger people. There is a stigma surrounding these animals. Kids nowadays are so savvy and so engaged with social media, we want to be able to connect with them. We hopefully try to teach them something along the way,” Palace Harris said in an interview after the event.

 

During his speech, Harris spoke about the difference a positive attitude can have on a child’s dreams, how the military helped him get his life on a purposeful track and the connection he feels with his animals. 

“You have to be greater than your excuses. Everybody has excuses. Some are self prescribed and some are given to you,” Harris told the students. “If you can have a positive attitude with everything. You can achieve anything.”

The Harris family was invited to speak at the school by a small group of students from Brenda Arnold’s seventh-grade class, said Angela Hobby, Colquitt County School System chief communications coordinator.

She said it began with a simple question, “how?”

 

“The students had first decided to write letters to soldiers as part of a community outreach project,” Arnold said in an interview following the presentation. “I had asked them, ‘now that you know what you’re going to do, how are you going to get (the soldiers) these letters?’”

The kids spoke with Helen Farrell, Willie J’s discipline office clerk and mother of Palace Harris, originally to get him to help distribute the letters.

“From there, it went from Mrs. Farrell will bring Palace the letters, to Palace will come and get the letters to where we are now with him giving his presentation,” Arnold said.

 

As part of the project the kids were also required to create a flyer for the event, write a press release and create a step-by-step outline discerning the “who, what, when, where, why and how,” Arnold said, adding, “They’ve done such a tremendous job putting this all together. They did almost everything themselves. It all started with a simple question.”

 

Darien Stancil, Kam’Ron Hollowman, Hayden Huff, Joshua Sanders and Connor Causey presented the Harrises with the letters as well as a few other thank-you gifts including hats, snacks and other items. Student Aden Hinson also helped organize the event but was unable to attend.

The students will be writing another series of letters for veterans around Christmas time,  Arnold said.

Palace Harris said the pleasure was all his to come back to his alma mater.

 

“It was an honor,” he said. “It was an honor for the children to even think of me. To come back and speak at a school that I attended, that I grew up in, was a pleasure.”