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***image1***Parents held up signs with “We the people of the United States” and “in order to form a more perfect union” as more than 200 Kaiserslautern Elementary School students ran past Sept. 17 in celebration of Constitution Day.
The Liberty Run/Walk was initiated last year at KES and Vogelweh Elementary School by Tony Jackson, who is the physical education teacher at both schools.
“Students love it. Parents love it. Teachers love it,” he said. “The first year was so great that everybody wanted to do it – even high school students.”
Affectionately known as “Coach Jackson” by his students, he added a 3-on-3 Bill of Rights basketball tournament to this year’s celebration.
“Each student has to recite at least one of the Bill of Rights before they can play,” said Coach Jackson, explaining the rules of the game he thought of the night before. “I was thinking why send the students back to class (after the run). I just pulled this idea out of the hat, and here we are.”
Kindergartners ran one lap around the school, about a quarter-of-a-mile. First- and second-graders ran two laps, about a half-mile. Third- to fifth-graders ran three laps or three-quarters-of-a-mile.
“The first lap was okay. Second lap was not too bad. The third lap was a bit harder,” said Harley Munozmartin, a KES fifth-grader. “But, the oranges and water (at the end) was the best.”
Refreshments and the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution signs were provided by the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, which Coach Jackson said is very supportive of this event.
“Teachers can’t end up doing it all – all the time,” said Paulette Williams, the school’s PTO president, who said about 15 parents volunteered for the event.
Coach Jackson said this event was reinforcing what the students have been learning for several weeks now on the U.S. Constitution.
Bev Flier, the schools Talented and Gifted program teacher, couldn’t agree more. “I think having the physical activity involved with the academics is a wonderful idea. It’s a great merging of the academics – it just ties everything together. It’s all brain learning.”
Constitution Day or Citizenship Day is a federal observance that recognizes the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It is observed on Sept. 17 – the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787.
