A cross section of high school journalists shared their reflections on the aspirations expressed in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, putting into a modern context such phrases as “We the People …” and “a more perfect Union….”
Their remarks were in a video produced by the U.S. Courts for Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which is observed by federal courts and their communities on September 17 and throughout the month.
“The American spirit, the American ideal is about that trial, that struggle, that strain to provide rights, to provide liberty, to provide justice for each and every person,” said Jacob Whitlock, of Alabama, when he commented on the meaning of the preamble phrase “in Order to form a more perfect Union.”
The students were interviewed on videotape during a recent visit to the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where they participated as lawyers and jurors in a simulated courtroom hearing, as part of the 2018 summer Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. See additional information about Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
The courts also have produced a second “words-only” video that helps students and others recite the preamble in unison. The theme of this year’s Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is “Federal Courts: Guardians of the Constitution.”
Read Along to the Preamble
Set the tone for a group recitation of the Constitution’s preamble at court events and educational programs at courthouses and around your community.
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