Law Day 2008

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 Links