Students visiting the Hall of Justice on Sept. 19 got a chance to sign their own copy of the Constitution while learning about how it was ratified in 1787.
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Photo courtesy of Michigan Supreme Court
Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) Justices Elizabeth T. Clement and Elizabeth M. Welch welcomed students from school districts across Michigan — virtually and in person — to educational events designed to celebrate Constitution Day, which is observed on or around Sept. 17 each year..
Coordinated by the MSC Learning Center, the events included instruction about the U.S. Constitution through a Zoom webinar, Michigan Hall of Justice building tours and separate question and answer sessions with the justices.
Clement is the MSC liaison to the Michigan Judicial Institute, which operates the Learning Center.
“Constitution Day unites us by reminding us of our founding principles and how we all must work together to achieve a shared vision of justice for all,” she said.
At the Hall of Justice in Lansing on Sept. 19, fifth graders from Perry Innovation Center in Grand Blanc took a tour that led them back to Sept. 17, 1787, by reenacting the debates at Independence Hall during the Constitutional Convention.
Next, they entered the Learning Center to sign their own copy of the Constitution. The tour ended with a question-and-answer session with Clement in the Michigan Supreme Court courtroom.
In debriefing the delegates’ debates, many said they would sign the charter of our nation's government. However, one student stood out by saying, “I would not sign the Constitution without the Bill of Rights.”
In addition, students wanted to know: “Would the Preamble ever need updating?” and “what kind of material was the Constitution written on?”
On Friday, Sept. 16, students and teachers from eight school districts participated in the Learning Center’s Zoom webinar. The students recited the 52 words of the Preamble aloud, followed by a Q&A session with Welch.
“As a nation, we strive for a better union. It is an ongoing process,” Welch told the students. “We have to believe in these goals to make those goals a reality, and that can only happen with ‘We the People,’”
“It is we, the people, who form the collective “We the People,” and we help democracy through all the different means we have available to us.”
Teachers and students from the following schools took part in the observation:
• Beekman Center – Lansing
• Corpus Christi Catholic School – Holland
• Dimondale Elementary School – Dimondale
• Holt Junior High School – Holt
• Moorish Science Temple of America #13 – Pontiac
• Robinson Elementary School – Grand Haven
• Rogers Elementary School – Berkley
• Matthew Lutheran School – Westland
Constitution Day is a federal observance designed to commemorate the creation and signing of the supreme law of the land and to honor and celebrate the privileges and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.
Federal law requires that all schools receiving federal funds hold an educational program for their students on or near Sept. 17 of each year.
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