Teachers Get Up-Close Insight Into High Court Workings

In late June each year, the U.S. Supreme Court dominates the headlines, if only for a few days. That’s when the justices issue many of their most significant—and contentious—opinions.

For a group of high school teachers who consider themselves enthusiasts of the law and of the Supreme Court, there’s no better time to be in the nation’s capital. In succeeding weeks late in June, two groups of about 30 teachers each arrive for the Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers, a nearly 20-year-old program aimed at giving them a deeper insight into the workings of the high court.

“I’m in heaven right now being with peers who are as geeky about the Supreme Court as I am,” said Lori Peters-Merkel, who teaches Advanced Placement government, psychology, and sociology at East Valley High School in Spokane, Wash. Her fellow teachers at home don’t always share that deep interest. When they see her get going on a court topic, she said, “they tend to bob their heads and say, ‘Really, Lori?’”

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