Madelyn Hyde, a sixth-grade student at Cherokee Bend Elementary, was selected as the Alabama Patriotic Education Essay winner by the National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars. She submitted an essay while in fifth grade detailing the role women played in the early Jamestown settlement.  

She received an award certificate and cash prize from the society's Alabama state president, Carolyn Drennen, along with an honorable mention certificate from the society's national president and national patriotic education chair for her participation in the Grade 5-6 Patriotic Essay Contest. Madelyn is grateful to her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Karan Bush, for presenting students with the opportunity to participate in the contest.