Teachers and Students Travel to Washington to Celebrate Constitution Day

From September 16-18, teachers and students from 48 states and the District of Columbia will travel to Washington, DC for a series of events to celebrate Constitution Day and the 225th anniversary of the drafting of the amendments that became the Bill of Rights.

The event is being organized by the Civics Renewal Network (CRN)—an alliance of 26 nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations committed to strengthening civic life in the United States by increasing the quality of civics education in our nation’s schools and by improving teachers’ accessibility to high-quality, no-cost learning materials through its website, www.CivicsRenewalNetwork.org. Street Law is a proud member of this network.

CRN’s Constitution Day program will recognize students from across the country who have completed a successful civic engagement project in their communities. Accompanied by their teachers, the students will participate in Constitution Day events organized by the network, including a nationwide Preamble Challenge led by the National Constitution Center. The highlight of the trip will be a visit to Capitol Hill, where students will present and discuss their projects with a congressperson. Students will also attend a citizenship ceremony in the National Archives’ Rotunda and visit the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Newseum, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress.

What are you doing for Constitution Day?

In 2004, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia sponsored an amendment to an omnibus spending bill officially creating Constitution Day. Today, schools and federal agencies across the nation celebrate this day by hosting activities that help people better understand how fundamental the U.S. Constitution is to America’s government, system of law, and national culture.

Looking for materials or activities? It’s not too late to sign up for CRN’s Preamble Challenge! You can register your class or school to join students from across the country in reading the Preamble to the Constitution. Simply sign up online to receive the teacher toolkit containing everything you need to get started.

Visit the CRN website to access hundreds of free resources from the 26 member organizations for use on Constitution Day or any day.