Students re-enact Constitution signing

Students at Moore Middle School got a jump start on celebrating Constitution Day by signing a replica of the historic document Wednesday.

With markers in hand, students from Jennifer Janiskee's eighth-grade social- studies class took turns putting their John Hancocks on a blue banner strung up in the school's library.

The signing was a chance for students in each of the school's grade levels to spend a few minutes in the shoes of those who signed the important piece of America's history.

The Constitution will be taught to students in Janiskee's classroom next month, but the teacher said she felt it would be proper to recognize the significance of Constitution Week - and its 224th birthday - with the activity.

Along with the signing, students in her classroom were working on protesting what she feels are unfair school policies, she said. The lesson will flow into her plans to discuss the document with her students.

"We are starting a unit on `our road to revolution,' so I'm giving the kids the background as to why we were protesting British rule," she said. "I think the most important thing about teaching history is making it come alive for the kids. So much of it seems irrelevant to them. They feel like it was so long ago, and it doesn't matter to them. But I think when you give people a chance to connect it with their real lives, they're able to understand what it really all means."

The school is celebrating Constitution Day - which is set for this Saturday - all week. Along with the signing of the document, students will be encouraged to wear red, white and blue on Friday.

"We want students to learn and recognize the Constitution and the need to celebrate and honor America," Moore Vice Principal Heidi VanDeventer said. "We encourage (teachers) to use hands-on activities for social studies because it gives students a chance to bring real life to a (subject), and it helps them remember what the event is about and why it is important."