“The goal of the James Madison Fellowship is to help secondary level history, government, and social studies teachers to become outstanding educators of the U.S. Constitution.” The Fellowship pays up to $24,000 to cover actual costs of tuition, required fees, books, and room and board to allow each Fellow to earn a master’s degree in American history or political science. James Madison Fellows may choose the accredited university where they will study. Constitutional study must be a prominent feature of the Fellow’s program, and he/she must agree to a continuing professional teaching obligation: “After earning a master’s degree, each James Madison Fellow must teach American history, American government, or social studies in grades 7-12 for no less than one year for each full academic year of study under the fellowship.” The James Madison Foundation’s Summer Institute on the Constitution is one of the most memorable and unique features of the Fellowship. Think “academic boot camp” for history and government teachers. In July, new Fellows meet at Georgetown University for a rigorous and intense four-week graduate course entitled, “The Foundations of American Constitutionalism.” The course includes required preparatory reading and is taught by leading scholars of the Constitution. There are several field trips to sites associated with the Founding of our country, and solid friendships are forged as Fellows test their academic skills.

The Fellowship’s goal is to boost the skill—and the passion—that history and government teachers bring to their craft. Here are a few testimonials from Fellows that illustrate just how effectively this goal is achieved:

I really appreciate the fact that the Madison Foundation allows for an open discussion of the Constitution without any kind of “spin” or “agenda.” ’95 (MI)

“This was a life-changing experience and my teaching will never be the same—it will be better.” ’04 (TX)

“I return home a better teacher than when I departed a month ago, molded through hours of reading, lecture, discussion, and tours, not to mention the conversations held with an incredible assemblage of teaching talent.” ’01 (WI)

“I thank the Madison Foundation for carrying on the Constitution’s spirit. . . as I and other Fellows pass the torch to the next generation of Americans in our classrooms.” ’97 (NH)

Fellowships are awarded in each state; an applicant competes only against others from his/her own state. Applications are due March 1, and everything you need to apply as a Madison Fellow, including Fellowship FAQs, is available on the Fellowship website at JamesMadison.com. Becoming a Madison Fellow is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your students in the New Year, and I’d love to answer any questions you may have about the Fellowship. If you are a Madison Fellow, please write to tell me how the Fellowship has benefited you.

Constitution Day is September 17th!

1. Test your knowledge of the Constitution – take our 15-question quiz covering the Constitution, landmark Supreme Court cases, people, and important primary source documents.
2. Watch a video – Do you know the key differences between republics and democracies? Watch this short, engaging video on the constitutional principle of representative government. (You can also watch it on TeacherTube).
3. Win a cash prize by writing about the Constitution– students in grades 9-12 are invited to submit an essay for our Being an American Essay Contest answering the question “How does the Constitution establish and maintain a culture of liberty?”
4. Travel back in time to the Constitutional Convention – explore our game Madison’s Notes are Missing and ask questions of the Founders and report their findings in a news story.
5. Refresh your memory on the importance of our liberty – spend a few minutes exploring Life Without the Bill of Rights? an activity that asks you to consider how life would change without some of our most cherished freedoms including freedom of religion, speech, and press, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and the rights of private property.
6. Read the Constitution – print out a PDF of the Constitution and read it – then pass it on to a friend!
7. Send a Constitution Day eCard – Brighten up the day of a friend, colleague, teacher, or family member with a fun eCard – and remind them to read the Constitution too!
8. Tune in to Constitution Hall Pass with the National Constitution Center – This Free, fun and fascinating webcast allows teachers and students to learn more about this historic day while chatting live with the National Constitution Center’s education staff. This year’s episode, Constitution Hall Pass: Freedom of Expression, brings the story of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights to life. The episode will be available on the Center’s website on September 16, with a live chat from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

What resources are you planning on using? Any other resources that you recommend to fellow teachers?

Representative Government

You’ve told us that students often confuse republics and democracies. Do your students understand the key differences? We created a short, engaging video for Constitution Day on the constitutional principle of representative government. Exciting visuals from current events, an engaging historical narrative, brief scholar interviews, familiar music, and memorable quotes will make this 7-minute video perfect for use on Constitution Day, and every day! You can watch on TeacherTube as well.

Use this viewing guide to guide your students through the video.

It is not like other forms of education that teach specific content and skills that have an obvious value in the marketplace. Instead, it teaches content and skills that are necessary for our society to continue to function in ways that we take for granted. In other words, we can only really know the value of civic education when it is not being done right.

This problem is certainly not news to civic educators, who have increasingly seen resources steered to literacy and STEM education at the expense of civic education. For my part, the potential consequences of this problem seem much more urgent to me following the recent riots carried out in London by a class of disaffected and disengaged young people.

One British commentator trying to explain the riots observed that this class of young people has “no skills, education, values or aspirations…. Nobody has ever dared suggest to them that they need feel any allegiance to anything, least of all Britain or their community…. Not only do they know nothing of Britain’s past, they care nothing for its present.” Perhaps this explanation oversimplifies, but the overwhelming sense I got from reading accounts of the rioting was simply that these young people saw no reason NOT to run roughshod over the lives, liberties, and property of their fellow citizens. Another way to say this is that these young people failed to uphold their part of the social contract that allows us to live in a free society. They failed liberty. At the same time, we can only conclude that those responsible for teaching them to live in a free society failed liberty as well.

Failing Liberty 101 is the title of a new book by William Damon, Professor of Education at Stanford University and director of its Center on Adolescence. Prof. Damon has spent decades researching the psychological development of young people, and he concludes that young people cannot develop into flourishing adults without the right kind of education – especially without the right kind of civic education.

Damon observes that America today is characterized by “a decline in civic purpose and patriotism, a crisis of faith, a rise in cynicism, self-absorption, ignorance, and indifference to the common good….” These factors are particularly hard to process for young people – “who are in a formative time of life typically characterized by idealism, hopefulness, and elevated ambition.” Young people are looking for purpose in life. Yet if they find “nothing positive to believe in, they drift in unconstructive and sometimes destructive directions.” Given this, Damon finds three dimensions of civic education that he believes are vitally important components of a civic education that will help young people flourish: education for virtue or character, a proper grounding in the American tradition, and an appreciation for America’s promise.

Damon acknowledges the challenges faced by educators trying to teach virtue – particularly in public schools. Yet whether schools are ready or not, Damon argues that the breakdown of the family and other institutions where young people have learned virtue and character gives the public school an increasingly important role as teachers of character or virtues. Further, Damon argues “the question is not whether a school chooses to provide its students with a moral education. All schools do so, whether they know it or not. But will a school do that well…?” Damon is particularly concerned that schools undermine the teaching of virtue or character. He points in particular to the potentially destructive effect of teaching that denigrates patriotism. For Damon, patriotism rightly understood is a vital civic virtue, not to be confused with “the kinds of chauvinistic and militaristic passions that were fomented by totalitarian ideologies….” Indeed, Damon sees patriotism – in the sense of a “positive emotional attachment to a community” as being “a necessary condition for sustained engagement in it.” He appreciates the importance of constructive criticism of our civic institutions, but argues “this capacity must build upon a prior, sympathetic understanding of that which is being criticized.”

For this reason, it is critically important for Damon that young people are given a sympathetic introduction to the American political tradition. A young person’s disposition toward their political heritage is an important factor in how that young person begins to identify him or herself; young people, Damon writes, “need to care about their society if they are to dedicate their concerted efforts toward citizenship.” Damon is therefore highly critical of the bitterly pessimistic formulation of the American tradition advanced by Howard Zinn. In addition to criticizing Zinn for imposing on readers an “epic feat of negativism,” he recalls his own conversations with Zinn about the effects of that negativism on young people. Zinn reported a letter from a high school student who said, “I read your book…. [Now] how can I keep from being thoroughly alienated and depressed?” We should ask, with Damon, whether a student who is alienated from and depressed about his heritage as a result of an unduly critical teaching about it will ever be able to appreciate that which is good about his tradition, or make a positive contribution to that which should be improved. At best, that student will withdraw, at worst, that student will seek to destroy that tradition – the good with the bad.

Without this appreciation of what is good in our past, Damon concludes, students cannot have hope for the future. Damon reminds us that the notions of American exceptionalism and the American Dream are related – and that, rightly understood, they refer to far more than just material success. America is special in that it “offers every U.S. citizen a chance to strive toward the aspirations they hold most dear, whether material, personal, social, or spiritual.” American young people can and should aspire to be far more than merely part of an envious, self-absorbed, rioting rabble like those young people who destroyed their own communities in the towns surrounding London – and their teachers should encourage them to do so.

Yet as Damon found in interviews with high school students, some students do not get this encouragement. One high school girl said, “Last year, the history teacher told us that the American Dream was dead…. I just – I didn’t believe that at all. If we didn’t dream, then we wouldn’t be doing anything. We wouldn’t be advancing as a society.” Another girl was more pessimistic, saying “I guess I’m not a true US citizen, or what America wants me to be, because America doesn’t even abide by their own rules or their own expectations, so I don’t know what a US citizen is…. I don’t know what [the American Dream] would mean to me. I heard [the phrase] so many times. And it’s crazy, and I don’t know what it is.”

Regardless of the differences of perspective or of experience that separate these two girls, it is clear that both of them want to live in a country they can believe in. If there is something in our country that is worth believing in – and it is my deepest conviction that there is – it is our responsibility as civic educators to communicate that worth with all of the confidence and skill we have to offer. The Bill of Rights Institute is here to support you in that indispensable effort.

What barriers do you face in your effort to educate young people to believe in the America we both love?

This new edition contains the full text of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, as well as all of the amendments. This edition of the Pocket Constitution also includes important dates and historical facts from our nation’s Founding, information about the Founders themselves, and quotes about the Constitution from the Founders who molded the document into what it is today. There is also a complete index included for quick references to passages throughout the text.

This new edition is a snug 3.5”x5”, allowing it to easily fit in any pocket or bag, ensuring that the Constitution is always on hand to keep the reader informed of his or her protected rights. These Pocket Constitutions will help ensure that every American increases their understanding and respect for the Founding documents!

This new edition is perfect for students who frequently reference these documents in a government, civics, social studies, or U.S. History classroom or anyone who wants to protect their freedoms

Pocket Constitutions can be ordered from the Bill of Rights Bookstore here for $1.20 each. Order a set for your friends, family, co-workers, students, or strangers – 10 Pocket Constitutions for only $12.00!

Americapedia is a concise but thorough online reference guide for teachers, students, and anyone interested in American history. It is divided into five key categories: People, Constitution, Documents, Landmark Supreme Court Cases, and Civic Values.

Each category contains 50-100 entries, and within each entry you will find highlighted words that link to other entries in the guide.

The interlinked pages make it easy to locate relevant and related topics, so you can quickly familiarize yourself with key vocabulary, or spend some time browsing through all the people, events, and ideas fundamental to American history. This will help to familiarize you with how all these categories are connected and how they made history unfold. Just keep clicking to see how one Founder’s ideas influenced an important document, how that document influenced the Constitution, and how that constitutional principle decided a modern Supreme Court Case.

Use Americapedia to get ideas for lessons and quizzes, or send your students here for a reliable study guide and review.  Whether you are preparing for classroom assignments, brushing up on your knowledge of the Constitution and U.S. History, or trying to figure out what American citizenship means to you, you will love this resource!

Is there a person, document, principle, or value you think should be added to Americapedia? Comment below to let us know!

“Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God”

As Hurricane Isabelle approached Washington, D.C. in September of 2003 the exodus of the city’s work force was in full gear. Supplies were swept from store shelves and windows were boarded up.

But on the hillside overlooking the Capitol a different story was playing out. At Arlington Cemetery the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were neither fleeing the storm nor leaving their posts. As remnants of the hurricane blew through Washington, D.C. they continued marching their 21 step vigil through the tumult, day and night, guard after guard, shift after shift, pelting rain and wind driven projectiles notwithstanding. When the skies finally cleared 24 large trees had been downed by Isabel throughout the cemetery, but the tomb guards were still at their posts in honor of all the unknown men and women who had died in the service of our country.

Honoring the men and women who have paid the ultimate price by giving their lives to defend the Constitution has been a long tradition in our nation. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day when Civil War soldier’s graves were decorated to honor them, is celebrated as a national holiday the last Monday in May each year for this occasion. Taking a few moments to ponder the sacrifices these heroes have made to secure our freedom is a worthy endeavor.

Informing young people, and all citizens, about the importance of honoring those who have died for America is a tradition that must be taught. The National World War II Museum of New Orleans website lists Memorial Day activities you, your students, or your family might consider to celebrate this year. A few of their suggestions are to:

• Honor a veteran on Your Facebook page

• Organize a school or family or community observance

• Place a flag on a Veteran’s grave

• Conduct an oral history interview with a veteran you know

• Write a letter to the newspaper (or a blog) to commemorate this special occasion

In this regard, the soldiers of the United States Army Third Infantry Regiment guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are a wonderful example of respect that should be respected. Their unbroken chain of dedication guarding the tomb around the clock stretches back 74 years. They actually live beneath the tomb, their barracks in close proximity of those whom they guard and, when on duty, they “walk the mat” with full exposure to the elements in all weather conditions.

The tomb holds the bodies of a three unknown American soldiers; one from World War I, one form World War II and one form the Korean War. To the guards watching over them, they represent all American unknown military personnel who have been lost at war. To honor them all, the tomb guards adhere to some of the military’s highest codes of conduct, toughest etiquette and uniform requirements, and most rigorous sentinel training. The precise 21 step pattern they march comports with the traditional honor guard 21 gun salute. Everything is done with excellence in respect for their comrades and what they, and their sacrifice, represent to the American republic.

On Memorial Day there will be solemn ceremonies and vibrant celebrations in cities across America honoring the men and women who have died serving the nation. If Memorial Day has simply been another day to you, I encourage you to start a new tradition in your family and attend one.

Washington, D.C. will host the annual Memorial Day Parade featuring veterans from all fifty states, the Memorial Day Concert on the Capitol grounds with the National Symphony, and the annual GI Film Festival. Over 500,000 thousand motorcycles will patrol the city all weekend in the annual Rolling Thunder Motorcycle rally for POWs. At Arlington cemetery military personnel will plant 250,000 small American flags on the graves of their comrades buried there.

And on the top of the hill overlooking Washington, D.C. the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will also be honoring America’s heroes on Memorial Day, marching their 21 step vigil, watching over the tomb around the clock. And when all the other wonderful commemorative celebrations have ended, they will still be there to us remind us that those who have given their lives for this nation deserve a Memorial Day every day.

What are you doing to remember our freedoms?

**Photos by Annabelle Ombac**

It was encouraging to see that the performance of fourth graders improved since 2006 – and that this increase was reflected through all demographic groups and all skill levels. It is also worth noting that teaching the Constitution and civics worked! Elementary students performed much better when their teachers made a point to emphasize the Constitution and our foundations as a nation, the role of citizens, and politics and government.

At the middle and high school levels, results were less encouraging. The performance of eighth graders has not changed since the 2006 or 1998 assessment – despite the fact that eighth graders report being taught more frequently about a wide range of civics topics, including the presidency, the judiciary, and political parties and elections. More disappointing, the performance of twelfth graders has declined – as has the amount of instruction they have received on the Constitution, among other civics topics.

This raises a question: Has a shift in certain civic education topics from high school to middle school failed to result in any educational benefit to middle school students, while diminishing the civic education of high school students? What other factors might be contributing to these disappointing results?  What remedies can you suggest to move policy-makers in the right direction?

Teachers, please weigh in on this important question.

Ady Steinbach, a junior from Johns Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri, took 1^st place in the Great Plains region. Ady chose freedom of speech as her civic value and felt Martin Luther King, Jr. most embodied the American character. In her essay Ady wrote, “Studying American history … has ensured that I will exercise my valuable right to free speech in the future as my political beliefs and involvement expand.”

Jacqueline Markey, a sophomore from Rochester Adams High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan, took 1^st in the Great Lakes region. Courage is the civic value Jacqueline chose to write about in her essay and she felt the individual who most personified the American character was James Meredith. Meredith was the first African American student to attend the University of Mississippi. For Jacqueline, part of what makes America great is that “when one courageous voice speaks out for what is right, even if it means thousands turn against him, the course of history can be changed.”

Ady and Jacqueline were joined by Noah Lingwall from Clarion, Pennsylvania. Noah took 1^st in the Mid-Atlantic region and is a sophomore at Clarion Area Jr.-Sr. High School. Noah chose individual liberty as his civic value and Harry Truman as the person who best typified that principle American character. “The passion for individual liberty that our Founding Fathers laid out … is alive and well today,” Noah wrote. “President Harry Truman exemplified this passion through his courage in the 20^th century.”

Sarah Hutchins from Hope, Rhode Island is the 1^st place winner in the New England region. Sarah’s sister Haley won 3^rd place in the 2009-2010 Essay Contest. Sarah, who is home schooled by her mother Ellen (featured in picture on the left), chose equality of opportunity as her core civic value. In her essay, Sarah expressed gratitude for those who struggled to obtain equal opportunity, specifically Abigail Adams, who Sarah chose as the person who best exemplifies this American characteristic. “I am thankful for influential people like Abigail Adams, who strived for equality of opportunity in the Founding of this country,” she wrote, “and for documents that support equality, like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

In the South-Atlantic region, Zachary Thompson took 1^st place. Zachary, who is from Fleetwood, North Carolina, attends Ashe County High School and is in his junior year. Zachary chose individualism as his civic value because he feels individualism is what stops Americans from being “bound to serfdom and slavery.” Zachary noted further that, “Since 1776, American culture has been the forerunning example of the power and virtue of individualism.” Zachary picked Murray Rothbard as the American who best illustrates this characteristic.

Ashlee Smith, from Kuttawa, Kentucky, took home 1^st place in the Mid-South region. Ashlee, who chose justice as her core civic value, is junior at Lyon County High School. For Ashlee, Thomas Jefferson is the American who best represents and grounds a sense of justice. In her essay Ashlee wrote, “ The importance of justice can be seen through the enduring actions of men like Thomas Jefferson, and the positive impacts of Founding documents such as the Bill of Rights.” (In the picture on the left, Ashlee is joined by Robert Testwuide, Bill of Rights Institute Board Member, John Stossel, and Juan Williams).

Lea Sedwick is the winner in the South Central Region. Lea hails from Kennedale, Taxes and is a senior at Grace Preparatory Academy. Lea’s teacher, Nancie Hall, has had a student place in every Being an American Essay Contest since 2007. For Lea, equality stood out as a pinnacle civic value because it “is the foundation on which our republican form of government was built.” Lea chose Thomas Jefferson as the person who best demonstrates this principle and she credited him and the other Founders deriving from equality the idea that government power rests in the people’s consent for “if all equal, no man can establish rule over another without his permission.” (In the picture on the left, Lea is joined by her classmate and 2nd place winner, Payton Ten Hagen (left), her teacher, Nancie Hall (center)).

Michael Tharratt, a junior at Oak Ridge High School, placed 1^st in the Pacific region. Michael calls El Dorado Hills, California his hometown. In his essay, Michael wrote about self-reliance as a core American civic value. “Dependency is a rot hidden at the core of any civilization … the cure for dependence, however, is at the heart of American ideals: self-reliance; the ability to prosper and forward oneself through faith in oneself, and through one’s own actions.” Michael chose Benjamin Franklin as the person who best embodies the American character. Michael is featured on the left with his teacher, Matthew Hodgins.

Heidi Sorensen took home 1^st place in the Mountain region. Heidi is a senior from Gunnison Valley High School in Gunnison, Utah. Heidi considers persistence is a civic value that grounds so much of what it means to be American. In her essay, Heidi wrote, “I believe that if we are persistent through whatever comes, we will become a stronger and more united nation. If we persevere, we will always have success.” For Heidi, Abraham Lincoln best personifies this value.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Being an American Essay Contest! Check out more of their essays and pictures of their time in D.C.!

Next, we took the students to go visit the offices of their Representatives in Congress. I went with Ryan Shymansky, who was able to meet his Congressman, Jason Altmire from Pennsylvania’s 4th District. Representative Altmire had created a certificate of achievement to award to Ryan to congratulate him on being a finalist–how cool!

All the students had a different experience meeting the staff working to represent their districts–one of our students, while talking to a House staff member from his district, found out that they had both graduated from the same high school! The student winners also loved seeing and exploring the underground tunnels that connected each of the Congressional office buildings. (Did you know that there are salons and shopping in those tunnels, too?)

After the trip to the House offices, we had lunch in the Cannon building with some Congressional staff members and a great speaker, Matthew Spalding. The students got to feel like they were actual “Hill Staffers” for a day!

Our last destination before the Being an American Essay Contest Gala was the National Museum of American History, where students got the chance to look at the exhibits on Abraham Lincoln, the First Ladies’ dresses, the history of war in the United States, and more! After the museum, the students were anxious for dinner and to find out who won the $5,000 of prize money for First Place essays, so we went back to the hotel to freshen up for the Gala.