School districts, colleges plan events for Constitution Day

Every educational institution that receives federal funding must participate. By HAROLD GWIN VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER YOUNGSTOWN -- This country's political leaders want school pupils and college students to learn more about the U.S. Constitution and decided that Sept. 17, Constitution Day, would be a good time for schools to address the issue. To make sure it happens, Congress, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005, made it mandatory for all educational institutions receiving federal funding to have an educational program pertaining to the Constitution on or about that date every year. Congress left the details up to the individual schools, but the U.S. Department of Education issued some guidance and provided some resources for schools to consider, said Susan Aspey, Department of Education spokeswoman. The mandate doesn't carry any funding dollars to implement the program. Purpose The goal is to increase understanding of the Constitution and its importance in the development and maintenance of our democratic government. In some districts, programs on the Constitution may be set up building by building. In some cases, individual classroom teachers may have the responsibility of providing an educational segment for their pupils. Because Sept. 17 falls on a Saturday this year and most classes won't be in session, local schools have picked different days to offer their programs. In Warren Warren City Schools, for example, will have its Constitution Day activities Friday, said Loree Richardson, associate superintendent. The student-run school television station has prepared a 20-minute program on the Constitution that high school students will be able to view in all classrooms over their lunch hour, Richardson said. Social studies teachers will also offer special lesson plans on the subject that day, she said. Each of the Warren elementary buildings will have its own program at 2 p.m. during which children will recite the Preamble to the Constitution and sing patriotic songs, Richardson said. The children will have had classroom discussions on the Constitution earlier in the day, she said. Elementary pupils also will be encouraged to wear red, white and blue that day, she said. Youngstown City Schools won't hold any central assemblies but is relying on teachers to present programs on the Constitution in their individual classrooms. At YSU Youngstown State University will mark Constitution Day on Sept. 19 with noted constitutional scholar Robert Bennett speaking in an open lecture at noon in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center on the topic "The Inevitability of a Living Constitution." Bennett is the Nathaniel L. Nathanson Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, where he served as the dean from 1985 until 1995. In his 2003 book, "Talking It Through: Puzzles of American Democracy," he presented a positive theory of American democracy, offering solutions to various puzzling features of the American form of democracy, such as why there is so little controversy about the apportionment of the U.S. Senate. In addition to his speech, YSU's Maag Library will offer an interactive display on the Constitution in the main floor lobby from Tuesday through Sept. 23. Kent, Slippery Rock Thomas J. Moyer, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, will journey to Kent State University to deliver a speech on the Constitution on Sept. 21. KSU's library and media services is sponsoring the program, which is free and open to the public. Moyer will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Room 306 in the Kent State Student Center. Students at Slippery Rock University will tune into a national Web cast at noon Friday featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer talking about the importance of the Constitution. Slippery Rock will also have a free-speech debate from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. that day in the University Union building. The political science department will sponsor a Constitution and Citizen Day Roundtable from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the University Union. Participants will discuss civic engagement, pressure on the Constitution amid the threat of terrorism, selecting Supreme Court justices and various civil rights issues. gwin@vindy.com