Constitution Day celebrated at Drexel Hill Middle School
UPPER DARBY » It has been 230 years since the U.S. Constitution was adopted, setting the framework of the federal government, the rights awarded to citizens and even establishing a framework for treaties with foreign powers.
To commemorate the signing of the historic document on Sept. 17, 1787, Delaware County officials teamed up with the Upper Darby School District to host a Constitution Day event on Monday to reiterate the document’s importance to America and its values.
Drexel Hill Middle School hosted the event that included special guest speakers like District Attorney Jack Whelan and Delaware County Council Chairman Mario Civera.
“I want to point out how amazing it was that our founding fathers could write a document, create a brand new form of government, and it lasted for two centuries. Can you imagine?” said Civera. “And these men didn’t have other governments to base it on.”
Whelan’s own love for the Constitution is so great he would make Constitution Day a federal holiday, calling it the greatest legal document in the world.
Upper Darby Schools Superintendent Dan Nerelli also spoke at the event, noting the importance of the day that would shape society.
“Often times I feel that while this day is very important to our country’s history, it is often given little to no attention, if at all,” he said. “The United States Constitution defines we are as a nation.”
At the time of its signing and the ratification of by the states the next year, the Constitution has changed “in order to form a more perfect union.” As Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has commonly noted, the documents opening words “we the people” only referred to white male property owners when first ratified. Men and women of all races were eventually deemed equal in the Constitution with all rights awarded to them.
Engaged Citizenship Executive Director David Woods said the Constitution is evolving.
“I think there are times in which the judiciary may go beyond what our founding fathers believed, but I think, for the most part, (they are) on target,” he said. “Over time it’s going to be proven to fulfill what who our country is supposed to be about, especially when it comes to justice and equality.”
Woods also added that it’s important for students to know about the Constitution because even though after school they will pursue a career in something, they are citizens first.
“We believe that training for citizenship is the most important things schools can do,” Woods said.
Drexel Hill Middle School Principal Frank Salerno said it’s not only a student’s job learn about the document, “but to uphold the ideals and underlying principles within this document.”
Constitution Day is observed on Sept. 17 annually, and Sept. 18 this year due to the weekend. It was created in 2004 in a law that restructured the previously named observance holiday known as Citizenship Day.