Publisher’s Note: This is a guest opinion editorial from Mr. Jason Cooper, a 2nd-grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary East.

130 years after the famous “Miracle at the Pump” scene between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan in Tuscumbia, Alabama, there is still a story to tell.  Perhaps no one tells it better than Helen Keller’s great grandniece, Keller Johnson-Thompson. For over 25 years, Johnson-Thompson has dedicated her life by spreading the hope that her aunt’s inspiration continues to live every day through the Helen Keller Foundation’s Character Education Programs. “As religion has all but left our public schools, and as students have to face so many obstacles in their day-to-day lives, giving them examples of people that have overcome so much is so important to these kids, as well as their attitudes about themselves,” says Johnson-Thompson.

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880.  She called her soul’s birthday March 3, 1887 – the day her beloved teacher came to her. However, it was a warm, humid evening in mid-May, 1887 that would transform the life of a 7-year-old girl into an international symbol of hope. Hope for a better world, hope for an inclusive world, hope that we would all see ourselves as works of progress for mankind in a world that many times has no vision at all.

As Helen Keller once said, “Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

Through the Helen Keller Character Education Program, Ms. Thompson delivers over 150 presentations per year throughout the state of Alabama free of charge to Alabama’s schools through personal appearances and virtual field trips from the University of Alabama. In addition, she also focuses on other admirable Alabamians including Rosa Parks, Condoleezza Rice, Vonetta Flowers, Kathryn Tucker Windham, George Washington Carver, W. C. Handy, and much more.

To schedule a presentation at your school for the upcoming year, or to participate in a Virtual Field Trip, please contact Ms. Thompson at kellerj@helenkellerfoundation.org.

Publisher’s Post Script: The Helen Keller Foundation strives to prevent blindness and deafness by advancing research and education.  The Foundation aspires to be a leader in integrating sight, speech and hearing research with the greater biomedical research community, creating and coordinating a peer-reviewed, worldwide network of investigators and institutions. For more information, go to helenkellerfoundation.org.