Slap in the Face or Saving Grace?

By Shawn Healy

When Senator Robert Byrd attached a rider to the 2004 Omnibus spending bill mandating instruction specific to the United States Constitution each year on September 17th in all publicly-funded educational institutions, as a government teacher and self-described constitutional scholar, I greeted the development with a small dose of resentment. After all, I devoted my career to teaching the Constitution, spending each day of the school year on the structures of our federal system dictated by the document and the limitations on government power spelled out within and throughout the recipient Bill of Rights. I thought, to shortchange the oldest written Constitution in the world to a single day is a slap in the face.

I have since left the classroom for the contemporary, media-intensive, and interactive exhibits of the Freedom Museum, but my mission to spread the gospel of the Founding Fathers has only grown. With the transition, my view of Constitution Day has since evolved. Educational institutions like the Freedom Museum have been given a great gift by the unofficial Senate historian and constitutional champion, Mr. Byrd. We now have a niche market to which we can sell the wonders of our founding freedoms and the defects neglected in the wake of our nation’s birth.

Our second annual teacher resource fair on September 11, 2007, is motivated by this very ideal. Attendees will have access to our exhibit and educational outreach, but also to resources from dozens of our peer organizations, all of whom offer materials meant to enhance the quality of the educational experience in classrooms throughout the country. I anticipate that you will walk away with lesson plan ideas, templates, and supplementary resources to meet the federal mandate six days later, not to mention the balance of the 2007-2008 school year. In the process, I urge you to join us in our efforts to make every day Constitution Day.