There's a new man in Ballinger.
"He's, he's just so beautiful," said 15-year-old Sarah Wright.
He's 10 feet tall, his name says he's a friend and he's evoking plenty of emotions.
"Proud, grateful, thankful, relieved, amazed," said teacher and leader of the project Cinnamon Carter.
That's because it's taken almost four years to finally see him where he belongs: the Ballinger City Park.
It all started with Cinnamon Carter and her Reading class learning about a lost statue on Indian Hill.
"I'm asking my class, 'did y'all know there was an Indian at the park?'", she said.
It turns out not many knew about him, so they decided to raise $50,000 to have a similar statue built.
"He just means so much to our community and we wanted to bring something back," said Wright, who was involved in the project.
No one knows where that statue went, but one thing is for sure: today a new piece of history was brought into Ballinger City Park.
"It's really kind of a full circle, you know one's lost, one comes back," said Ballinger mayor Sam Mallory.
Native American tribes from all around the nation even came to celebrate the new tribute.
It turns out the area is surrounded by Native American history.
"There were a lot of different groups out throughout here the Hermano, the Cherokee the Comanche the Kiowa," said Carter.
However, for Carter it wasn't just about replacing a lost statue, it was a lesson in the making.
"There's so much more you can teach not in a book, and you know if we don't give something to our students to be proud of and a goal and a purpose and a vision for things that seem unattainable then that sets them up for a lifetime of having that very same thought," she said.
Now the Ballinger class of 2015 leave behind a valuable and historic mark by helping return a very important man to their city.
"He's, he's just so beautiful," said 15-year-old Sarah Wright.
He's 10 feet tall, his name says he's a friend and he's evoking plenty of emotions.
"Proud, grateful, thankful, relieved, amazed," said teacher and leader of the project Cinnamon Carter.
That's because it's taken almost four years to finally see him where he belongs: the Ballinger City Park.
It all started with Cinnamon Carter and her Reading class learning about a lost statue on Indian Hill.
"I'm asking my class, 'did y'all know there was an Indian at the park?'", she said.
It turns out not many knew about him, so they decided to raise $50,000 to have a similar statue built.
"He just means so much to our community and we wanted to bring something back," said Wright, who was involved in the project.
No one knows where that statue went, but one thing is for sure: today a new piece of history was brought into Ballinger City Park.
"It's really kind of a full circle, you know one's lost, one comes back," said Ballinger mayor Sam Mallory.
Native American tribes from all around the nation even came to celebrate the new tribute.
It turns out the area is surrounded by Native American history.
"There were a lot of different groups out throughout here the Hermano, the Cherokee the Comanche the Kiowa," said Carter.
However, for Carter it wasn't just about replacing a lost statue, it was a lesson in the making.
"There's so much more you can teach not in a book, and you know if we don't give something to our students to be proud of and a goal and a purpose and a vision for things that seem unattainable then that sets them up for a lifetime of having that very same thought," she said.
Now the Ballinger class of 2015 leave behind a valuable and historic mark by helping return a very important man to their city.
