On Constitution Day, Justice Teaching volunteers covered the state in their assigned schools with the goal of bringing the United States Constitution to life for all Florida students.

For example, Tallahassee attorney David Frank, a graduate of the Florida State University College of Law and former assistant attorney general, visited one of the largest schools in Leon County, Lawton Chiles High School, where he delivered Justice Teaching presentations to over 400 11th-graders. Frank discussed the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth amendments with the students, as well as the doctrines of separation of powers, judicial review, and checks and balances.

Frank’s service to Chiles High School was not an isolated event. In May of this year, he presented six Justice Teaching sessions to classes at the school. During visits, the students participated in exercises requiring them to deliberate and decide the constitutionality of a strip search of a high school student, which is one of the new case studies on the Justice Teaching Web site at www.justiceteaching.org. The students also discussed civil law, the federal court system, and the Fourth Amendment.

Frank received compliments from the teacher in charge, who expressed a desire to continue the program, according to Justice Teaching’s Michelle Ballard.

“Frank is one example of the thousands of Justice Teaching volunteers who are enriching and improving the lives of Florida children every day,” Ballard said.

“The students are not the only ones who benefit from these interactive educational sessions. Indeed, society as a whole benefits from Justice Teaching because it ensures that the next generation understands and values the rights for which our ancestors fought. Justice Teaching is a critical movement because, in the words of constitutional law attorney John W. Whitehead: ‘Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.’”