Love of U.S. Constitution is contagious for Uintah County students


7 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Jeff Ross didn't really discover his love for the U.S. Constitution until he was in college.

"It's something I started to get excited about as an undergrad," Ross said.

Now an attorney practicing in Vernal, Ross is working with elementary-age students to help them develop a passion for one of the country's founding documents.

"There's value in having students gain that, I guess, excitement about (the Constitution) and understanding of it at a much younger age," he said.

On Tuesday, Ross spoke to the fifth-graders at Eagle View Elementary School in Fort Duchesne. The presentation was one of many made around the state and the country as part of the national observance of Constitution Day, which celebrates the document's signing by delegates to the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1787.

"The Constitution is 226 years old today," Ross told the students. "Pretty cool!"

His hour-long presentation touched largely on the separation of powers and the important role the Constitution plays in American government. He also helped the students hold a short mock trial for Cinderella's wicked stepsisters on charges of "meanness and cruelty."

Of course the trial drew laughter from the kids, but Ross said even the lighthearted role-play is a step toward helping students gain a basic understanding of the rights and responsibilities the Constitution provides.

"There's always more that you can learn in terms of the Constitution," he said. "It's important to know it and understand it, to know how our country works, how it ticks."

As part of Tuesday's lesson, all the fifth-graders at Eagle View took a quiz on the Constitution. If you'd like to test your constitutional knowledge, you can find that quiz here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/17/the-constitution-day-quiz-test-yourself/

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahEducation
Geoff Liesik

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast