(The Center Square) – Hoping to inspire future leaders, a former congresswoman distributed hundreds of pocket constitutions to students in eastern and central Washington ahead of the upcoming Constitution Day holiday.
Congress made Sept. 17 “I Am an American Day in 1952,” before amending it to Constitution Day in 2004. The change mandated that all schools receiving federal funding provide programming on the importance of the founding document, but only half of Americans can name which branch makes laws.
Former U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., says some school districts don’t recognize the day since there isn’t a penalty for skipping it. She attributed rising polarization to low civic literacy and hopes to bridge party lines among younger generations by emphasizing the importance of the Constitution.
“We see the division growing,” McMorris Rodgers told The Center Square. “America has welcomed the battle of ideas. The U.S. House of Representatives, its 435 representatives, representing every district in America; it’s a battle of ideas that takes place, but we don’t resort to political violence to make our point.”
Constitution Day falls on the one-week anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this year. McMorris Rodgers called the killing tragic and a “direct assault on the First Amendment.”
One of the tenets of the founding document is safeguarding free speech, regardless of what side of the aisle an individual may stand on. The former congresswoman said she and her team handed out more than 600 pocket Constitutions ahead of this Wednesday, along with interactive worksheets, games and more.
She wants the community to read it and reflect on what makes them American. A Gallup poll recently found that pride has fallen significantly among Americans in recent years. Only 58% of adults reported being “very” or “extremely” proud to be American this year, down nearly two dozen points from 2015.
Kristina Sabestinas, executive director of the Cathy McMorris Rodgers Leadership Institute, said CMRLI is partnering with several districts in its inaugural year. The donor-funded organization provided pocket constitutions and other materials to Spokane Public Schools, the Reardan-Edwall School District, Walla Walla Public Schools and the Central Valley School District, saving them thousands of taxpayer dollars.
“This is just the beginning for us as we head into this next year,” she told The Center Square. “It’s $4 or $5 a piece to do those constitutions, and we want to get those into the hands of students for free.”
McMorris Rodgers said that many schools see Constitution Day as a “check-the-box” activity, citing the importance of teaching each generation what it symbolizes in terms of the promise of America. Federal directives require programming for Sept. 17, but largely leave it up to the states, other than that.
Washington state policies require students to complete a one-semester civics course to graduate high school. Many learn about civics at varying levels throughout school, with a lot of middle schools hitting on the topic in eighth grade. Sabestinas said there are around 80,000 eighth graders across the state.
CMRLI’s goal in the future is to get as many constitutions into the hands of those students as possible.
SPS sent The Center Square a list of materials it distributed to staff and expects each secondary social studies class to highlight the Constitution on Wednesday. Washington State University is also hosting a reading, with the Washington State Constitution on display for the first time in Spokane on Monday.
“We just see a huge opportunity to be able to get as many constitutions as possible into their hands,” Sabestinas told The Center Square. “So I think we’re setting our sights on as many as we can do.”
