• “The Constitution was ‘penned’ by Jacob Shallus, a Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for a fee of $30 ($325.29 today). It was stored in various cities until 1952, when it was placed in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. During the daytime, pages one and four of the document are displayed in a bullet-proof case. The case contains helium and water vapor to preserve the paper’s quality. At night, the pages are lowered into a vault, behind five-ton doors that are designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. The entire Constitution is displayed only one day a year–September 17–the anniversary of the day the framers signed the document.” ~ West Hills College
  • “Today, we celebrate our heritage as a country bound together by fidelity to a set of ideas and a system of governance first laid out in America’s Constitution. The product of fierce debate and enduring compromise, our Nation’s Constitution has guided our progress from 13 to 50 United States that stretch from sea to shining sea. It has watched over our growth from a fragile experiment in democracy to a beacon of freedom that lights the world. It has vested in each of us the power to appeal to principles that could broaden democracy’s reach.” ~ President Barack Obama
  • “If you ask the average person what they think is going on with civics education, they’ll say, ‘They don’t teach this anymore the way they did when I was a kid.’ They’re right, but the major difference is not a lack of knowledge about such facts as the branches of government, but the decline of applied skills, such as being able to understand the news and form one’s own opinions about the news, and being able to affect one’s community in a productive way.” Peter Levine, Tufts University
  • “Today’s NAEP results confirm that we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education. We face difficult challenges at home and abroad. Meanwhile, divisive rhetoric and a culture of sound bites threaten to drown out rational dialogue and debate. We cannot afford to neglect the preparation of future generations for active and informed citizenship.” ~ Sandra Day O’Connor, former Supreme Court Justice
  • “Cause us to see clearly that the well being of our nation is in the hands of all its citizens; imbue us with zeal for the cause of liberty in our own land and in all lands . . .” ~ from The New Union Prayer Book: Gates of Repentance