The Constitution Day Project is聽put on annually by the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law to provide the opportunity for volunteers聽acquainted with the law to teach thought-provoking and current constitutional questions to Colorado high schoolers. In聽its thirteenth year, Colorado Law students visited聽high schools across the state to teach students聽about their voting rights during this year鈥檚 election season.聽After discussing suffrage in the Constitution generally, volunteers had discussions with high school students about restrictive voter identification laws, soliciting opinions and thoughts from these young minds and seeing what Colorado鈥檚 future voters had to say about the topic.
鈥淲e are excited to bring timely and engaging topics to classrooms across the Front Range," said Christina Stanton, Associate Clinical Professor who聽runs the Constitution Day program.聽"Constitution Day recognizes the 1787 signing of the Constitution and it is energizing to bring these lessons to local high schools to discuss how this 鈥榦ld鈥� document impacts their lives today. We know our law students teach excellent lessons, but we are also hopeful that their passion for the law will inspire the next generation of legal minds here in our state.鈥�
Adam Rennie '26 taught three different classes and shared that his students were 鈥渉ighly engaged鈥� in the discussion. He even had the opportunity to teach a two-and-a-half-hour class with students ranging from freshmen to seniors.聽Rennie聽added: 鈥淣ot only was I able to go off script, the extra time allowed me to make things personal, and that was a great class because of how deep we could go on certain things.鈥澛犅�
Darrell Billington, a teacher at Fairview High School,聽commented that it was a 鈥渢imely discussion to chat about voting rights鈥� and that it was 鈥渨onderful to have other voices chat with [the] students鈥� about the importance of 鈥渇air elections鈥� in our democracy."聽
Educating future voters about their voting rights聽is paramount. In addition,聽part of the Constitution Day Project is聽to foster an ongoing conversation between current high school students and the legal community. Tristan Frakes '27聽taught a freshman class and聽spoke about his valuable experience teaching a younger generation:聽
鈥淭here were a couple kids who were very willing to contribute and share what they knew, but I tried to call on kids outside that group to get them to engage. Most of the questions presented to the class were pretty subjective and once I validated the opinions of the quieter kids, they definitely opened up a bit, which was cool to see. Freshmen are at a very funny age鈥搈ost of them definitely needed a lot of coaxing鈥� but there was this one kid who was clearly pretty bright and knew it. I didn鈥檛 call on him in the open class discussions because I wanted to get the more hesitant kids to share their thoughts, but when we did break-out groups, I got to interact with him a bit. He was clearly excited about the subject and seemed to have interest in going to law school himself. It felt good to get to talk to a kid who has ambitions to be where I am now.鈥澛�
This impression that law school students leave on high schoolers is a significant reason the Constitution Day Project continues to be so popular every year. Daniel Marquina '27 remarked that this was a great way for first years聽like himself to give back to the community with their busy schedule, and that he even had a student reach out afterwards 鈥渆xpressing interest in my career path.鈥澛�
Getting students excited about civic engagement, either in law school or at the ballot box, was a聽common theme this year. Kathy Zaleski, a teacher at Northglen High School,聽said her volunteer, who had visited her classroom on past Constitution Days, 鈥渉ad great energy, was knowledgeable, and as usual, had a great time with the students.鈥澛燬imilarly, Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, who also participated in this year鈥檚 lesson, took time at Cherry Creek High School to speak to students about his job and the legal profession today.聽
This year, Constitution Day continued its tradition of outreach across the state and hosted two lectures as well. At Fort Lewis College,聽Christina Stanton delivered a lecture entitled 鈥淭he Power of the Indigenous Vote: Legal History and Modern Advocacy鈥� as part of the college鈥檚 political engagement project. And, along the western slope, Sarah Matsumoto, Clinical Associate Professor, spoke on 鈥淎fter聽Chevron: the regulatory landscape for public lands and natural resources鈥� to students and community of Colorado Mesa University. The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship supported this talk. Connecting with schools across the state allows the Constitution Day project to meet the needs of partners outside the Boulder-metro area and to celebrate the signing of the Constitution by facilitating conversations most relevant to those areas of the state.
The Byron R. White Center is thankful to all its volunteers who took the time to visit classes and the teachers who were gracious to host them. We are excited to continue the tradition next year!聽
If you are interested in participating in Constitution Day 2025, either as a legal volunteer or high school host, please fill out the form