Proud Service – Girls from Girl Scout Troop 337 raise the flag at a Jemison Middle School football game. Members of the color guard are Olivia Childress, Lexi Carr, Mackenzie Atkinson, Bailey Elliott and Makayla Lang.(Contributed)

By STEVEN CALHOUN/Staff Writer

The girls from Girl Scout Troop 337 are now the official color guard of Jemison Middle School. They raise and lower the American Flag every day for the school.

JMS did not have anyone who knew the proper way of handling the flag duties, according to Terrie Childress. The school asked Childress’s daughter Olivia if she would be interested in helping the school with the flag duties.

She accepted the responsibility and now she and four of her friends are proud of their new role, according to her mother.

“They take pride in this responsibility. I’ve seen how they’ve grown in the first few months,” said Childress. “They are bringing awareness to other students that there are proper ways to handle the flag.”

According to Childress, the girls have had many students come up and ask them questions about what they were doing as the troop raised the flag in the morning. She said the girls take the opportunity to educate their peers and teach respect for the flag.

Childress said that many people do not know the proper way to retire a flag. She has offered to anyone the chance to bring Troop 337 their torn or tattered flags and the troop will perform a ceremony for retiring the flag properly.

“To respect a flag, you respect it in all aspects: from when it’s new all the way through to retirement,” said Childress. “I see a lot of people not honoring our flag.”

A comprehensive version of the U.S. Flag Code can be found by searching at uscode.house.gov. For questions about the troop, contact Terrie Childress at 205-287-1224 or tcildress@gmail.com.