It was the “experience of a lifetime” for Liberty County High School students and staff Wednesday afternoon.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee for president, and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, made a 30-minute stop at LCHS on Wednesday, speaking to marching band members, cheerleaders and football players, among others.
“It was the experience of a lifetime in having Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz visit our school to give our students words of encouragement about our future, about their future,” said Warnella Wilder, the first-year principal at LCHS. “We did have to put some things in place for them to come. But it was an absolute pleasure.
“It was good for them to be in the moment to have such a once in a lifetime moment to experience.”
The visit to Liberty County High could have an impact beyond the students, according to state Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway).
“To see a high school band, to see a football team and to get here and let the country know that her campaign is not confined, that she is going to see everybody everywhere, I think it was a great move,” he said.
The presidential hopeful talked to the students briefly about their future and putting themselves in a position to protect their future, Wilder said.
“It was about them being leaders, being young leaders, being themselves in the moment,” Wilder said of the vice president’s remarks. “She was very encouraging in her message to our students and giving them the tools to be future leaders.”
Gov. Walz, a former high school football coach, also passed along encouraging comments to the students.
“They were very welcoming, very warm,” Wilder said. “The students were very excited to see them come through the doors.”
The vice president also told band members she too was a member of her high school band.
“She was absolutely beaming,” Wilder said. “She was very warm, very personable, just super excited to be around our school and our students. She could relate to those kids and I think that meant a lot to them. They can speak from real life experience, and that’s something they can draw from.”
Williams, who will act as a campaign surrogate for Harris in Georgia, said he will work as hard as he ever has for her election as president.
“Vice President Harris is a unique lady with a very, very broad vision for America,” he said. “When we spoke, it reassured me of why she is running. She wants to make a difference in this country. I am so glad she came to Liberty County. I have been hollering for years, you can’t win Georgia without running the rural counties.”
While preparing for the visit took some work for the school, Wilder couldn’t think of a better place for the Harris campaign to visit.
“We are the Liberty County High School. Why not us? It’s our moment. It’s our time,” she said. “We deserve this moment. What better way than for her to start her campaign in the county of Liberty. We are just as good as any county in the state of Georgia. We are just as good as any county in the United States. So why not us?”
For Williams, the visit from a presidential candidate was a long time coming. Sitting presidents – going back to John F. Kennedy and including George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama – have visited Fort Stewart. But Harris’ stop was the first for someone on the presidential campaign trail.
The last Republican candidate to win Liberty County in a presidential election was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
“I’ve always urged the campaign to remember the election will be run in a lot of rural counties,” he said. “I’m so glad she chose to come to Liberty County where there is a lot of enthusiasm.
“Liberty County is an important piece of history. It was so important to us that she thought enough of this county to come and visit with us. She came, touched us, interacted with us and we’ll never forget it.”
