El Paso County Bar Association Contact: Timothy J. Schutz, Law Day Chair Hanes & Schutz, P.C. 7222 Commerce Center Dr, #243 Colorado Springs, CO 80907 E-mail: tjs@hanesschutz.com Law Day Poster & Essay Contest 2002 Activity Summary: Grade school classes throughout the Colorado Springs metropolitan area are advised of the basic concept of Law Day as well as the year's theme and encouraged to have classroom discussions of the theme. We offer teachers a speaker's bureau of local attorneys/judges to facilitate the class discussions. Students in grades 3-6 are then asked to present their interpretation of the year's theme in artwork while grades 7-8 is asked to provide an essay interpretation. Savings bond prizes are given for each grade and a pizza party is awarded to the best overall class/teacher for each grade level. An awards ceremony is conducted with the local judiciary, parents, teachers and media in attendance. Activity Narrative: Students are commonly told that the governmental system in the United States and our devotion to the rule of law make this country one of the greatest nations. However, the students are given little explanation, example, or understanding of this concept until late in high school. Our companion contests are designed to give younger students an opportunity to explore the real meaning of "the rule of law." We week to construct this opportunity in the classic form of the intellectual arts, an interactive examination in which the student seeks to obtain their own understanding and use that knowledge to reflect the year's theme in their own fashion rather than simply absorb a lecture. Since the goal is the interactive discussion rather than just obtaining posters and essays, we start by advising teachers in schools (public, private and home schools) across the county of the contact so they will have time to incorporate the discussion into their curriculum. In our information packet, we provide teachers with a brief history of law day, and its purposes and the current Law Day theme. The contest organizers also devote considerable time to making a variety of suggestions of more specific topics or classroom activities that the teacher could use to explore the annual theme. Our purpose is not to limit the teacher, but to make pursuit of the class discussion as easy as possible. We have found these brainstorming bullet ideas to be a popular aspect of the contest. We have a number of teachers and classes that are regular participants in the contest year after year. In another effort to facilitate the interactive discussion of the "rule of law," we offer teachers a speaker's bureau comprised of volunteer local lawyers and judges. The teacher need merely call the contest organizers to be provided with a local lawyer or judge to talk with their class on almost any topic. The speakers are commonly asked to talk about the year's theme, careers in law, the nature of our legal system, specific legal issues the class is studying, or other class projects. We have found our program design to be quite successful in exploring the rule of law to younger students. The events of September 11, 2002 helped bring meaning to these concepts for the student this year. The younger student's posters reflected many themes emanating from the terrorist attacks, as well as America's racial and cultural relations. A theme we found surprising in many of the posters was the presidential contest of 2000, another example of the value of our culture's devotion to the rule of law as compared to other nations. Many essays reflected a sophisticated examination of the American legal system's response to the events of 9/11, including examination of the United States Patriot Act and various constitutional challenges to it, unquestionably reflecting exactly the kind of spirited classroom discussion we hoped to encourage. We received approximately 500 entries this year. We assembled a team of judges from all aspects of the community. In assembling judges, we make a concerted effort to minimize the number of lawyers on the panel. We draw judges from the business, civic, education, and art communities. We choose first, second and third place winners for each grade and, to recognize the unmistakable influence of gifted teachers, we award a pizza party to the best overall class for each grade. The winning posters and essays were published in a permanent brochure and were also displayed at the Bar Association's Law Day luncheon. We hold our awards ceremony with parents and teachers present in a restored turn of the century courtroom. The chief judge of our local court hands out the awards, members of our local judiciary congratulate the winner, and a media personality acts as the master of ceremonies. The awards ceremony is usually the student's first interaction with the legal system or a "real live judge." We think it provides a strong positive image of the legal profession and our legal system that will stay with the students throughout their life. The program has been embraced by teachers, students, parents, as well as the local arts and legal communities. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization