Last week, Tom Moor and I were invited by the Windemere School PTO in Ellington, CT to give presentations to its fifth and sixth grade classes. This was the first time that Camp Constitution had the opportunity to give classes in a public school. There were over 400 students that got a lesson on the U.S. Constitution from an Americanist perspective. Mr. Moor started the classes with his rendition of “The Preamble Song,” and an overview of our week long family camp. I conducted a power point presentation on the Constitution which included a refutation of some of the myths that the students will or have heard including the misguided notion that the Constitution is outdated, and that it promoted slavery. The students heard, many for the first time, that rights come from God, that the U.S. Constitution does not give rights but protects them, and that the United States is a republic. We asked the students and teachers on hand if they could name their member of the U.S. House of Represenatives. Only one teacher knew. Mr. Moor and I were very well received by both students and teachers.
All of the students and teachers received a pocket size copy of the Constitution and a camp brochure. There is still time to register for our 2014 week-long summer camp which runs from July 13-20.