Davis Constitution Day Essay Contest
The 226th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution is coming up this September 17. In honor of that date, the first annual Davis Constitution Day Essay Contest is announced. Sponsors of the Contest are The Davis Enterprise, The Avid Reader, and the locally based group of women interested in promoting knowledge about the facts and understanding of the history of the Constitution, “We the People of Davis.” Contributors to the event include Davis Awards and Konditerei.
The essay is to be up to 500 words in length. The four categories of eligibility are sixth grade students enrolled in Davis elementary schools, ninth grade students enrolled in Davis Junior High Schools, twelfth grade students enrolled in Davis High Schools and adults nineteen years and older residing in Davis. There will be a first prize winner selected from each category. Each first prize winner will receive a $100 prize.
The essay topic is “How Does the U.S. Constitution Affect My Life?”
The winners will be notified Monday, September 16. They will be recognized by, and their essays published in, The Davis Enterprise. They will be introduced at the City Council meeting Tuesday, September 24 at 6:30 p.m. At 7:30 p.m. there will be a reception for them at The Avid Reader, 617 2nd Street in downtown Davis. There will also be a program there at which they will have the opportunity to read their essays. The public is invited.
The contest begins Monday, August 19. Completed essays must be delivered no later than Friday, September 13 at 5:00 p.m. to The Avid Reader. Flyers detailing the rules and format for entering are available at The Avid Reader.
In addition, throughout Constitution week, other events are taking place in Davis to recognize the Constitution’s signing.
The evening of Tuesday, September 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 at The Avid Reader, there will be a discussion of the newly released title, The Roberts Court by Marcia Coyle. Subtitled The Struggle for the Constitution, this book covers four landmark decisions concerning health care, money in elections, guns at home, and race in schools and captures how those cases began and how they ultimately exposed the great divides among the justices.
Author Marcia Coyle is the chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal and has covered the Supreme Court for twenty-five years.
Journalist Bob Woodward has referred to The Roberts Court as “one of the best Supreme Court books in years.” Former Solicitor General of the United States, Kenneth W. Starr, terms the book “a wonderful addition to the literature about the Court.”
The Avid Reader is offering The Roberts Court at 30% discount.
Leading the discussion of the book at The Avid Reader will be Stan Forbes. Chair of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, Forbes served on the Davis School Board from 1987 to 1996 and as a member of the Davis City Council from 1996 to 2000. He is the owner of The Avid Reader at The Tower.
Wednesday, September 11 and Saturday, September 14, there will be a table during the hours of the Farmers Market hosted by representatives from the group “We the People of Davis.” They will be holding a Facts Contest centered on the Constitution inviting Farmers Market attendees young and older alike to spin the wheel and to answer easy and more difficult questions on this country’s founding document.
Finally, McGeorge Professor of Law John Cary Sims will be speaking at The Avid Reader during Constitution Week on the subject of the 4th Amendment Thursday, September 12 at 7:30. As attorney for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C. founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Professor Sims handled a wide range of complex cases at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
View the constitution_flyer.pdf on this wiki or at the Avid Reader.
