Sep 21, 2005 By Patty Yauger 3 min read

DUNBAR TWP. – On Sept. 17, 1787, 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting to sign a document that would establish both the government’s power and the fundamental rights of those residing in the U.S. On Tuesday, some 218 years later, the U.S. Constitution and its framers – George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Madison and the others took center stage in a Connellsville Junior High West civics class where over the next several weeks students will learn how the ageless document has withstood the test of time.

Laura Lukaesko told the eighth graders that the delegates from 12 of the 13 states spent nearly 10 hours a day, six days a week from May until September, in a shuttered room discussing the contents for a new constitution.

The closed-door session, she said, would not be tolerated today.

“We would find that unacceptable,” she said, noting the public’s right to know actions taken by government agencies.

After several months of negotiation and compromise, the document was signed and sealed by 39 of the delegates, but it took more than two years for nine states to ratify the constitution, she said.

The district along with other schools, colleges and government agencies that receive federal funds are required by law to acknowledge the signing of the Constitution and provide instruction to students and employees about the document.

A nine-year veteran with the school district, Lukaesko said that the class curriculum has always included a unit about the constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments.

With the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court judges, the federal government response to the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane Katrina and Iraq formulating its new government, Lukaesko said there is ample opportunity to tie the more than two-century-old constitution to today’s news items.

“It’s been a very good year to discuss current events in civics class,” she said.

Student Hannah Strang said that her first introduction to the U.S. Constitution was three years ago, when her fifth grade teacher required the class to memorize the document’s preamble and then recite it each day.

To her, the most important component of the constitution is the protection it provides to individuals.

“No one is allowed to come in and pull me out of class and search me,” she said.

Charles Nagy said he has watched as Iraq has utilized portions of the U.S. Constitution to formulate its own governing guidelines, but is skeptical it will celebrate 200 years of existence.

“I just wonder if it is going to work,” he said.

John Schroyer, Junior High West principal, said the U.S. Constitution unit provides students the opportunity to learn how the nation’s early leaders developed the governing guidelines and its flexibility.