Schools
Gower West Elementary Celebrates Constitution Day
Students sang patriotic songs and learned about the historic document from several speakers
Saturday marks the 224th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America. Schools around the country marked the occasion Friday in various ways. At in Willowbrook, students gathered for an assembly in the school cafeteria. They sang patriotic songs and heard several fourth-grade students briefly explain the significance of the historic document.
All educational institutions that receive federal funding are required by law to have an educational program regarding the Constitution on Sept. 17, which has been designated nationally as Constitution Day or Citizenship Day. If Constitution Day falls on a weekend or holiday, then schools are asked to have the program sometime during the week before or after Sept. 17.
“President George W. Bush signed the Constitution Day celebration bill into law on Dec. 8, 2004,” fourth-grade student Eden Suda told Gower West students. “Constitution Day is celebrating the U.S. Constitution, signed by our founding fathers on Sept. 18, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pa. The Constitution is the basic law of our nation.”
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Cantigny Park in Wheaton will celebrate Constitution Day Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. with free parking all day. Visitors will be able to pick up their own pocket copy of the Constitution and will have an opportunity to sign a copy of the Constitution with a real quill pen like the one used by the 39 original signers of the document.
If you want to see the original document, you’ll have to travel to the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. The four pages of the Constitution are on display under protective glass framed with titanium. The display case for each page contains argon gas to help preserve the parchment and is kept at a constant 67 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 percent relative humidity.
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According to the website Constitutionfacts.com, the Constitution has 4,400 words, making it the shortest constitution of any major government. It is also the oldest constitution still in use.
The only presidents to sign the Constitution were George Washington and James Madison. Washington called the agreement of the states on the document, “little short of a miracle.”
John Adams, the second president of the United States, did not sign the Constitution because he was serving as the fledgling nation’s representative to Great Britain at the time. But he also praised the document, referring to it as “the greatest single effort of national deliberation the world has ever seen.”
