School replaces 'hall of heroes' honoring Mother Teresa others with Oprah, Obama

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For years, boys and girls at South Arbor Charter Academy have been inspired by Heroes Hall – a corridor featuring murals that honored the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts, Mother Teresa, Betsy Ross and Albert Einstein.

But many parents are furious after the principal had the murals replaced with paintings honoring President Obama, J.K. Rowling and Oprah.

“This is no longer a hall of heroes,” parent Craig Bergman told me. “Now we have a hall of celebrities.”

The original mural had been a part of the Michigan charter school for years. It included a diverse group of national and global “heroes” – from Gandhi to the astronauts who were killed when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas.

Those images were replaced with President Obama, Oprah, Maya Angelou, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and Walt Disney.

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So what the heck is going on here? Why did the South Arbor Charter Academy remove a mural memorializing the fallen Columbia astronauts and replace it with one honoring President Obama?

School spokesperson Jennifer Hoff said it was part of an intentional shift from “historical heroes” to “modern-day heroes.”

“Heroes Hall has been a part of the school’s fabric for years,” she said. “In fact, the old mural had been on the wall for at least 11 years. As with all things over time, it was showing its age from the activities of being an active school and needed some repair.”

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