-
What is Constitution Day?Constitution Day is a Federal-mandated day of observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and celebrates American citizenship and civic participation. It is observed on September 17th, the day the Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania signed the Constitution in 1787. The law establishing the present holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amended bill by Senator Robert Byrd, well-known in Congressional circles as a self-proclaimed expert and student of the US Constitution. Before this law was enacted, September 17th was unofficially known as "Citizenship Day". In addition to renaming the holiday, the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the US Constitution on that day, an act made official by the US Department of Education in May of 2005. Many public schools, universities, and colleges nationwide have created "U.S. Constitution and Citizenship Week" programs in order to meet the requirements of the law.
Constitutional Day Class Resources
-
Etown Constitution DayEtown High School presentsThe Preamble ChallengePresented by the Etown High School Social Studies Department andthe Civics Renewel Network
About the Civics Renewal Network: The Civics Renewal Network is an alliance of 26 nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations that provide free online classroom resources for civics education, based through the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia - the symbolic and historic birthplace of American democracy and the US Constitution. The overall purpose of the Network is to raise the public visibility of civics education and to make high-quality resources more accessible to teachers through a one-stop website. The network partners also work collaboratively to further develop existing resources and promote the involvement of public education in that process on Constitutional specific events, such as Constitution Day or Law Day.To see more on what the C.R.N. does, check out their website by clicking here
About the Preamble Challenge: In 2015, the Civics Renewal Network and its sponsors challenged schools, libraries, and communities across the US to really connect and broaden general understanding of the most hallowed section of the US Constitution on September 17th (Constitution Day) - the Preamble - and promote that understanding to a digital audience. In this activity, modeled in part after other successful online awareness campaigns like the Ice-Bucket Challenge, schools register their institution on the C.R.N. site and take a deeper look at the meaning behind what the Preamble to the US Constitution and how it continues influence American life in their classrooms in the days leading up to Constitution Day. Students then gather at a prominent location on Constitution Day within their schools or community and conduct their own reading of the Preamble, sharing their creativity and interpretations under the Twitter hashtag of #PreambleChallenge or #ConstitutionDay.To see more on what the Preamble Challenge is all about via the C.R.N. site, click hereOur Part in the Preamble Challenge at EAHS: Outside of the traditional public awareness campaign that the E.A.H.S Social Studies Department hosts in honor of Constitution Day, students in Mr Huesken's Government and Economics classes took on the Preamble Challenge creating short videos that showcased their own interpretations and views on the US Preamble. These videos were completed writing, created, and developed by our young engaged citizens and Constitutional scholars in an age when many believe that the youth of our community care little for the values and heritage of our Constitutional republic. Our hope is to prove many of these doubters wrong.Feel free to check out some of our 2016 student creations posted below:
Constitution Day "Talking Portraits" Assignment: As a unique way of celebrating Constitution Day, students used the free app Photo Speak to create public service annoucements (PSAs) from signers of the US Constitution to the American public, introducing themslves, stating their contributions to the writing and ratification of our nation's Constitution, and urging people to get out and celebrate this important, but little sung holiday. Students used their own research and creativity to create these PSAs and presented them to their peers.Feel free to check out some of our 2020 student creations posted below:
Etown Constitution DayEtown High School presentsThe Constitution Day Podcast SeriesPresented by the Etown High School Social Studies Department,Soundtrap.com, & Soundcloud.com
What is "podcasting"?"Podcasting", made famous by iTunes and Apple, is an episodic series of digitally-recorded audio files, which a listener can subscribe to so that new episodes are automatically downloaded via web syndication to the user's own local computer, mobile application, or portable media player. The word "podcast" is a portmanteau of "iPod" (a brand of media player from the early 2000's) and "broadcast". Thus, the files distributed via this form of media are in audio format, but may sometimes include other file formats as well to further the listener's experience.How is in-class podcasting related to Constitution Day?As part of our celebration of Constitution Day, students worked with a partner or in a group of three (3) to develop and present to the rest of the class a student-created podcast, using the SoundTrap audio recording app and SoundCloud.com, where they interview a delegate from the Constitutional Convention and discuss their views of the US Constitution, this year’s celebration of Constitution Day, and their own historical / biographical resume.Feel free to check out some of our student-made podcasts below:Etown Constitution Day 2017Etown High School presentsConstitution Day SurveyPresented by the Etown High School Social Studies DepartmentEach morning, via the H.S. Morning Announcements, the High School Social Studies teachers will be celebrating a different aspect of the Constitutional experience in our country through the Center For Congressional Study at Indiana University's popular educational video series Facts of Congress dealing with such issues as the founding of our nation, federalism, and being an informed citizen.On Constitution Day itself, a survey question related to a deep constitutional question will be posted via the Morning Announcements to the student body for reflection, consideration, and participation. Students and faculty will be encouraged to send in their responses in to the survey site posted below and voice their support, concerns, and / or view points of the Constitution and how it continues to influence our society today!Survey results from our 2017 Constitution Day survey are posted below:Video presentation played over our Morning Announcements
Table #1: Who are the people who participated in our Constitution Day 2017 survey? Table #2: "In your opinion, which of the following is the most pressing issue currently facing the President of the United States?" 
Blue - FreshmanRed - SophmoresOrange - JuniorsGreen - SeniorsPurple - Faculty / StaffColumn #1Directing our national defense with the crisis over North Korea (31.9%)Column #2Bringing people together and promoting unity in the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville (11.6%)Column #3Working with Congress on immigration reform to replace the now removed DACA program (11.6%)Column #4Providing money and disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma (39.1%)Column #5Promoting reform of public education and "school choice" for students (5.8%)
