Thousands of Tennessee students and educators will engage with the U.S. Constitution this fall through classroom resources, school programs, teacher training and public events led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Institute of American Civics, housed in the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs.
The institute’s Constitution Day programming extends beyond Sept. 17 — the date of the Constitution’s signing in 1787, traditionally celebrated as Constitution Day. Programs will reach K-12 classrooms across the state with UT faculty, civic leaders and resources designed to deepen understanding of the Constitution and American self-government.
“Understanding the Constitution requires more than knowing what it says. It means wrestling with the ideas behind it, understanding the institutions it created and considering what self-government asks of each generation,” said IAC Executive Director Joshua Dunn. “Through these programs, we want to give students, teachers and Tennesseans opportunities to engage seriously with those questions and with the principles that have shaped the American experiment.”
Putting the Constitution into Tennessee classrooms
At the center of this year’s effort is a new Constitution Day toolkit developed through the institute’s grant-funded Renewing the Republic initiative. The institute distributed 315 kits to Tennessee teachers, with additional kits being delivered to community partners.
“These toolkits allow us to extend the IAC’s reach by putting resources directly into the hands of educators who can use them with students in their own communities,” said IAC Managing Director Frankie Nicole Weaver. “And because the kits can be used again and again, their impact goes well beyond Constitution Day. They give us a way to support civics education in classrooms and communities across Tennessee throughout the year.”
Each toolkit includes a classroom set of 42 pocket-sized annotated copies of the U.S. Constitution, Constitution Day game cards and K-12 lesson booklets focused on the three branches of government. The IAC produced an additional 3,000 copies of the Constitution for programming throughout the fall. Six kits will remain with the institute as a lending library, allowing schools and partners to use the materials for future civic education programs.
That model is already expanding the project’s reach. On Constitution Day, Sept. 17, all six lending kits will travel to West View Middle School in Hamblen County for a schoolwide program that will reach 550 students. Each student will also receive an annotated copy of the U.S. Constitution and other resources.
The same day, the IAC will support a Constitution Day program at the U.S. District Court in Greenville, serving 225 high school students from Johnson County. Led by Judge Rachel Mancl, the program will bring students into a federal courthouse to learn about the Constitution and the judicial system.
The toolkits will continue traveling beyond Constitution Day. On Oct. 22, approximately 275 students in grades 7-12 at St. Cecilia Academy in Nashville will participate in a schoolwide America 250 program that includes the institute’s U.S. Constitution Power Grab game.
Connecting students with Tennessee public leadership
The institute also brought 219 high school students and 14 teachers and administrators from Wilson County Schools together for a program focused on the executive branch.
IAC Professor Andrew E. Busch opened the program with a look at the role and powers of the executive branch, followed by an interactive session on national security with Eric Keels, interim director of the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs, and a session with Weaver on opportunities for students at the Baker School. The day culminated with a conversation between Busch and former U.S. Senator and Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, who drew on his experience leading at both the state and federal levels.
The institute will share a recording of the program in civics and government classrooms across the district, extending it to an additional 1,500 students during the school year.
Exploring the American idea with Allen Guelzo
The institute’s Constitution Day programming will also bring acclaimed historian Allen C. Guelzo to UT for a public lecture, “Lincoln and the American Idea: From the Declaration to Gettysburg.”
Guelzo will explore the connection between the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address, examining how Lincoln drew upon the declaration’s promise of equality to redefine the purpose of the Civil War and the American experiment.
Through Lincoln’s words and leadership, the lecture will consider enduring questions about democracy, freedom and the principles at the foundation of American self-government.
The lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, in the Baker School’s Toyota Auditorium and is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
About the Institute of American Civics
The Institute of American Civics, housed within the Howard H. Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, advances civic education and understanding of American constitutional government through teaching, scholarship and public engagement. The institute is home to UT’s bachelor’s degree program in civic and constitutional thought and provides civic education and programming for students, educators and the public.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
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