With support of the Philadelphia School District, tens of thousands of high school students to visit National Constitution Center for immersive education about the Constitution.
Through a day-long intellectual, social, and skills-based educational experience at the National Constitution Center, participants in the Constitutional Ambassadors program will learn the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. Before the visit, they will prepare in their classrooms with the Constitution Center’s educational materials and after the visit, they will participate in online exchanges linking classrooms in Philadelphia with those in states from Kentucky to California. The Constitutional Ambassadors program aims to inspire Philadelphia students of diverse backgrounds to be ambassadors for constitutional principles and civil dialogue.
The Constitutional Ambassadors program will be made possible through philanthropic support to ensure that every students and teacher who wishes to participate in the program will have the opportunity.
The National Constitution Center’s new online platform for nonpartisan constitutional education, the Interactive Constitution: Classroom Edition includes professional development opportunities for teachers, constitutional lesson plans, civil dialogue toolkits, and other multimedia teaching resources crafted by education professionals and leading constitutional scholars.
The Classroom Edition also allows teachers to sign their students up for virtual classroom exchanges, pairing classrooms throughout the country with each other to practice foundational rules of civil dialogue while having meaningful conversations about high-profile constitutional issues.
The Classroom Edition builds on the success of the Center’s Interactive Constitution, which has been visited by over 22 million different users since launching in 2015. The Interactive Constitution presents the full text of the Constitution, with essays written by leading legal scholars from across the ideological spectrum who are paired with each other to provide a balanced explanation of the history, structure, and significance of every clause of the Constitution.
Constitutional Ambassadors Initiative
Before the students come to the National Constitution Center, teachers can use the Classroom Edition resources to teach core constitutional concepts to the students.
When the students visit through the Constitutional Ambassadors program, they will see rare historical documents, priceless artifacts, interactive exhibits, and powerful live theatrical performances that bring contemporary discussions about the Constitution to life. And the students will practice civil constitutional dialogue and debate with their peers.
The National Constitution Center’s educators will follow up with teachers within a month of their visit to support continued classroom discussion, and to invite the students to participate in virtual classroom exchanges with peer classrooms across the country. The Center will conduct randomized evaluations on the program’s effectiveness to adapt the content and format as needed.
Learn more about the Constitutional Ambassadors Program online.
