Constitutional Contest
The regular breakfast meeting on Saturday, November 25, 2006 was primarily focused on a proposal, made by Dr John Abraham, for an annual Constitutional Contest for Cobb County 4th grade classes.
Dr. Abraham said that, from conversations with school principals and faculty, and with Madison Forum members, the idea came for a way to promote a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution. He said that it is difficult to insert yourself into a system that will have many excuses for why something can’t be done, so he came up with the idea of having a contest on the Constitution offered to all 4th grade classes in Cobb County
The purpose of the contest is to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the intent and ideas behind the United States Constitution. 4th graders would compete as a class, with the finals to be hosted at a local venue and, hopefully, televised on Channel 23 or Public Television.
Basically, $25,000 would be raised for prize money which would be divided between the winning class and its teacher. This would be first prize, and the only prize.
The contest would be some kind of question where Madison Forum members, or members of other civic organizations could be used as coaches for all schools so they would have a firm footing. He hopes to have this contest publicized on Channel 23 or on Public Television, have a dignitary give the final test, maybe at Kennesaw State. But the big thing is to award the money.
Dr. Abraham said that he feels that if this is done, and done right, then we will see a groundswell of public participation asking “how come we don’t do this in schools”, and then the door is open to a great idea. He said that he is a great believer in the carrot, and the carrot is the $25,000, winner takes all, with a caveat that of that amount, $10,000 has to be spent in the classroom. This would be above the funding that each classroom supposedly gets.
Essentially, the contest would be annual, at a particular time, open to all 4th grade classes, and non-partisan. There would be an eclectic mix of people writing and evaluating the questions, and a big name personality giving them out. If it gains ground, it might evolve into a day of discussions and seminars by notable people who look at the Constitution from different angles.
Discussion covered a number of questions and ideas:
How many 4th grades there are in Cobb County?
Might this age be too young for this kind of contest? Should it be for 8th graders, which seems to be the grade where civics is taught?
Would several smaller prizes be more of an incentive than one big prize?
Dr. Abraham replied to this that his vision is, if this works, and if it’s a contest, and it’s done well and done fair, and equitably, and everyone feels like they had a fair chance to participate, and there is a prize, or prizes, then the idea is that we will start seeing the PTAs thinking bigger. His major emphasis for the school board is student performance, student achievement. He feels that if the carrot is big enough it will be the incentive to get teachers involved in this plan.
Should the contest be for public schools only? Dr. Abraham thinks it should.
Should the contest go statewide? And would this help the Madison Forum expand?
Should the prize include a class trip to Washington to see our government in action?
It was pointed out that we need good, accurate information. Mike Opitz said that is in hand.
It was suggested that we confine the contest to one county, to establish validity and give the big prize. The next year look into expanding. The Madison Forum will be expanding as well.
It was also suggested that the concentration should be on the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution.
It was suggested that the contest should be able to be inserted in already existing classroom curriculum, to help teachers to become motivated as well as the students, because school administrators are always aware of No Child Left Behind. Dr Abraham feels that the groups that need to be sold on the contest are the PTAs and the school councils. He said that Cobb School Superintendent Fred Sanderson likes the idea.
It was suggested that we have volunteers go into the schools on September 17, Constitution Day, because the schools have got to address the Constitution at least one day a year in all classes.
There was a comment about a group working with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in a middle school in west Cobb. The group is staffed by three history teachers at the school who only provide guidance and support. The initiative comes from the students.
It was suggested we find out at what level American History is taught in Cobb County schools, see where it first comes in, and decide if, at that earlier level, they are developmentally ready to deal with a project like this.
It was pointed out that there are single 4th grades in schools, but higher grades are separated into several classes. There may be three social studies teachers in one middle school.
Dr. Abraham said he feels that this should be a community effort. He said there is a lot of intellectual capital in the community as well as within the school system. He feels the winner will be the team with the best collaboration. And he feels we have to start early, even before middle school.
It was pointed out that 4th graders are still in their formative years, while by the 8th grade they are predisposed to a lot of things and have begun to form opinions. Maybe the contest could be on a two-tier basis - 4th grade and 8th grade.
Dr. Abraham feels that the contest needs to be narrow in focus in the beginning and then evaluated.
A sign-up sheet was passed around for people who are interested in joining planning committees.
The group also discussed compiling a list of current issues to be presented to the State Legislature by the Madison Forum. These would be items that the Forum, as a group, feels should be addressed by our lawmakers in the 2007 session. The list included, among many items, Ethics Reform, Immigration, Dual Citizenship, Voting Fraud, Ballot Access, Ballot Security, and Voting Accountability. This project will be addressed further at a future meeting, and a short list will be compiled to be presented to our State Senators and Representatives.