Utah students and seniors talk about America 250

SALT LAKE CITY — In 2026, we all mark the 250th anniversary of America. As Utah commemorates that milestone, we thought it would be nice to visit with some students and some senior citizens to find out how they feel about being Americans. "What do you think was the most serious complaint that the colonists had against Great Britain in the Declaration of Independence?” Laura Pratt poses that question to her eighth graders at Churchill Jr. High School in Salt Lake City.

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Their discussion about the American Revolution led to the conclusion that most colonists felt it was the only option. The students talked about forcing colonists to house British soldiers, and that the soldiers would be sent back to Great Britain to face charges if there was any wrongdoing, not in the Colonies. Taxation without representation and cutting off exports were other complaints, another student added. Theh class also made posters, using the words from the Declaration of Independence to rally fellow revolutionaries. They divided into groups and came up with slogans. “They’re taxing us, like ‘Save Our Tea!’” a group of young women said. "I think it’s important to instill in kids that we all have a responsibility to make sure that our democracy works,” said Pratt.

Here’s what the students said

The students were asked why it's important to know about American history? "So we don’t repeat what has happened in the past," said Aaron White. "Just in case and like learn from it, too, you know, learn what we could do better.” "We are still such a new country, but we have so much rich history that is super, super important to learn about and, you know, just be grateful to be here," said Mia Morton. Amedeo Saccomanno said, "We just had to fight so hard to like get away from the English to just become a country. And now we are like this amazing, beautiful country.” "There are still problems and if we do not learn about them, they may not relapse," said Victoria Moore, "and they may relapse and if they start to relapse, we will not know how to handle them properly. We might have the same problems as we did in the past.” Their teacher added, “ If we go back to John F. Kennedy’s words, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.’ We want young people to be engaged. We want them to be involved, and we want them to be excited about the present and the future of the country.” “Not everyone in Congress was super happy with this," she said.

What the seniors said

Ms. Pratt took those same lessons to a group of senior citizens at Friendship Manor in Salt Lake City. Susan McCain is a friend of Pratt's and over dinner they were talking about American history. Susan thought her fellow residents would enjoy a class. "We’re old and decrepit but our minds are still working," McCain said. "But for our minds to work, they need to be fed the proper diet. Laura is really one of the most important parts of that. We live the history, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we can make sense of it. And she helps us be objective and bring in things that we didn’t know while we were living it.” Ray Maestas said, "We know that those are some serious kinds of things that we’re struggling with as older Americans and now I see an opportunity to get involved and we’re really promoting this. We’re stakeholders!” Carole Straughn added, "Oh, this is a great opportunity for us to reacquaint ourselves with what a precious thing we have in this country and this experiment and how we can help make it succeed.”

There is hope, and much to be proud of

We found that from the 8th graders to the senior citizens, there is agreement. There is much to be proud of and there is hope. "To be an American is just to know that I am super lucky to live in this amazing country," said Mia Morton, an eighth grader, "where we have the freedom and rights that we had to fight for, for a very long time that a lot of countries do not have.” Her classmate, Victoria Moore, said, "I believe that it means we all are willing to fight to make sure that we’re all equal, no matter who we are.” Ray Maestas of Friendship Manor said, "We have a significant place in this country, in this world and this makes me a bit more global in my world view.” "You know being one of the top countries in the world, I think it worked out pretty well,” said eighth grader Aaron White. And Friendship Manor resident Carole Straughn said, "I believe that all of us are of equal worth and dignity and we can work together. And when we work together, things go better for everybody.” We gave our teacher, Laura Pratt, the last word. "This time period has a lot of political discord in it. But this is just a time period. It will pass and as long as we all participate, I think, you know, the future is bright for everybody.”

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