The Houston Bar Association will celebrate Constitution Day,
September 17, with educational programs in Houston classrooms. A reading program
in elementary schools and a partnership with the Houston Chronicle to provide
educational guides to middle schools and high schools will highlight the HBA’s
commemoration of Constitution Day, which marks the anniversary of the day in
1787 that the document was adopted. Volunteer attorneys will read the book, “The
Story of the Statue of Liberty” to elementary school classes throughout Harris
County at various times on September 17. Volunteers will read during one or two
classroom periods and will then leave the book for the school’s library as a
donation from the HBA. The book includes discussion guidelines. The HBA needs
volunteers for this project! If you have one or two hours you can spend reading
to elementary students, please contact Maria Randall at 713-759-1133 or
mariar@hba.org.
The HBA also will once again partner with the Houston Chronicle’s Chronicle in
Education Program to provide a classroom guide that will teach middle school and
high school students about the Constitution and how it affects their daily
lives. “The Constitution in the News” is an educational supplement that examines
court rulings on issues such as student drug testing, file sharing, wiretapping,
First Amendment matters, student cheating, and gun laws, as well as how the news
media has covered the issues. The guide shows how the Constitution still
influences all aspects of life. The guide is made available free of charge to
classrooms through the Houston Chronicle’s Readers are Leaders Foundation and
the Houston Bar Association. In exchange for funding the program, the HBA is
featured as a sponsor in promotional advertising, student supplements, a teacher
calendar, emails, a Web site and teacher workshops. Last year, the partnership
reached nearly 10,000 students in the Houston area. For information for
teachers, visit www.chron.com/cie.
Constitution Day
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