Liberty Day

School Activities

Bringing government officials into the classroom has proved to be greatly beneficial to not only in raising awareness of the nation’s found documents, but also closing the perceived gap between young people and the government.  By brining students into direct contact with public officials, the world of government changes from words on a textbook page to a dynamic and essential function of society.

Additional Liberty Day projects are undertaken by the schools themselves.  Many teachers design thematic projects for their students around the speakers and booklets.  One elementary school class wrote, performed and videotaped skits that depicted events associated with the founding of the United States, including the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere’s ride.  Another middles school class set the preamble to the U. S. Constitution to rap music.  At one high school, five officials (including a mayor and a district attorney) assumed the roles of signers of the constitution and spoke together as a panel to a student assembly.  Each panelist presented the founding documents as their “character” would have spoken over 200 years ago.

Contact Liberty Day for other ideas or help in Liberty Day school activities.

Connecting Students and Elected Officials

Liberty Day discovered that if service group members simply gave out the Liberty Day booklets to students, those booklets were not ‘valued’, but were often immediately defaced and discarded.  It was suggested that if elected officials gave the booklets to the students, then the students would be more likely to place value on them.  And, considering the perceived lack of interest in government among young people, perhaps actually meeting and talking to an elected official would inspire some curiosity in government.  When elected officials were asked their opinion of this idea, they responded very enthusiastically – but said that they just didn’t have time to make the arrangements.  When approached with the idea, teachers were equally enthusiastic.  They would definitely invited elected officials into their classrooms; and it was about time these people started paying attention to kids.  But they just didn’t have time to call and make the arrangements.  Enter members of the Lions clubs!  Members of these service groups volunteer to make the arrangements, acting as the go-betweens for teachers and elected officials, setting up speaking engagements for requested times.  These volunteers make sure the elected officials have the booklets to give to the students.  Boxes of booklets are left in the House and Senate offices, various city council offices, various country commission offices, etc. around the state.  Elected officials are encouraged to speak to classes on Liberty Day.  But most speak to classes many other times during the year as well.  The Constitution booklets are provided at all times.

Community Activities

Communities can become involved with activities of their own.  Public lectures are only one way of promoting the Liberty Day message.  For example, one Colorado town displayed sections of the U.S. Constitution in public places.  In another community, the Declaration of Independence was read on the courthouse steps.  Other cities staged plays or mock debates on issues the nation’s founders grappled with 200 years ago while framing the constitution.  At Denver’s Colorado History Museum, 68 people were naturalized as new citizens at a ceremony that drew a crowed of nearly 400.