Jenks East Elementary School fourth-graders Aneesah Herrera (left), MacDonald Uzoechi and Angel Luke working on drawings Monday for the Constitution Day project as Platt College Director of Education Monica Skrzypczak looks on. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
Fourth-grader Caleb Mangesho has strong opinions about what the U.S. Constitution means to him.
"I'm saying the Constitution is safe. That means I'm safe. That's what it means to me," he wrote Monday in a short paper for a class Constitution Day project.
Mangesho or one of his classmates in Lori Dziadula's class at Jenks East Elementary School will win a trophy for their work.
On Tuesday - Constitution Day - all students at Platt College in Tulsa will have the opportunity to read the papers, view the drawings, and then vote on their favorite.
"It's a great way to connect the two worlds together. I think our students will enjoy reading these papers," said Shaina Luke, director of student services at Platt College in Tulsa, and whose daughter, Angel, is in Dziadula's class.
This isn't the first year Dziadula's fourth-graders have written a paragraph about what the Constitution means to them, along with a drawing to illustrate it.
"Sometimes, it surprises me how much they know about it," she said.
Dziadula said it is, however, the first time the activity was part of a competition.
The papers will be posted at the Platt College Tulsa campus Tuesday - identified only by each child's student number - and Platt College students will cast ballots.
Since 2005, all schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funds are required to provide educational programming about the history of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, the anniversary of the day in 1787 that the framers signed the document.
The educational requirement was created through passage of an amendment offered by the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to the omnibus spending bill of 2004.
Monica Skrzypczak, director of education at Tulsa's Platt College, told the Jenks fourth-graders that the author of the paper who gets the most votes will be presented with a trophy Friday.
At that, students' eyes widened and several children smiled.
"Is it made from real gold?" one student asked.
Another student, Allexus O'Berg, asked why it was important for her class to do the Constitution project.
"Why do you think it is important?" an adult responded.
"Because the Constitution is important," Allexus replied.
U.S. Constitution facts
- James Madison, "the father of the Constitution," was the first to arrive in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. He arrived in February, three months before the convention began, bearing the blueprint for the new Constitution.
- The word "democracy" does not appear in the Constitution.
- The Constitution does not set forth requirements for the right to vote. As a result, at the outset of the Union, only male property owners could vote. African Americans were not considered citizens, and women were excluded from the electoral process. Native Americans were not given the right to vote until 1924.
- Patrick Henry was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention but declined because he "smelt a rat."
- Because of his poor health, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.
- Thomas Jefferson did not sign the Constitution. He was in France during the convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adams was serving as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the Constitutional Convention and did not attend either.
- George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents who signed the Constitution.
- The Constitution was "penned" by Jacob Shallus, a Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for $30 ($726 today).
- Since 1952, the Constitution has been on display in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. Currently, all four pages are displayed behind protective glass framed with titanium. To preserve the parchment's quality, the cases contain argon gas and are kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 40 percent.
- As Benjamin Franklin left the Pennsylvania State House after the final meeting of the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1787, he was approached by the wife of the mayor of Philadelphia. She was curious as to what the new government would be. Franklin replied, "A republic, madam. If you can keep it."
Source: ConstitutionFacts.com
Kim Archer 918-581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Students share views on Constitution
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