2009 National Academy: Taking it Home

The “dance party” finally pulled the plug at nearly 1:00 the next morning. Others had already said their goodbyes in order to pack the last of their things or to sleep before an early morning departure. The National Academy had reach its final destination.

The last day’s presentations included two Creedal Affirmations, Constitutional Currency, Light and Dark and a Colorized Constitution. What would Cicero think of his words providing the backdrop for a new U.S. currency? Texts like the Declaration of the U.S. and the Constitution once seemed complete in black and white but now resonate with the theories of Hobbes, Locke, the Federalists and Antifederalists. I hope each presentation team will consider sharing some piece of their work here so I can come back and add links to this post.

Will’s final remarks Friday began with “What Can Brown Do For You?,” a reference to last year’s conversation seeking to discover six words for the National Academy.  Several of this year’s participants used that mode for the re-writing project too! When assessing what the boxes might look like in 3D, Will pointed to Hobbes21’s posts about his “Serial of Boxes” where students lent their talents to the model presented at the National Academy. While it is a relief to have finished the three weeks at Occidental, the secret to the Academy’s success lurks in stories like these and the community that continues to work together to make those stories possible.

“Trending topics” at the conclusion of this year’s Academy included concerns about what to do next, the difficulties of deliberation, the essential nature of constitutional thinking and vows to continue the conversation. Politicolor is here to help!

This is a place to…

Share your favorite stories….

Contemplate what it all means…

Consider a new approach to education…

Celebrate success in the classroom…

Or simply chat about world events.

Adding your voice to the conversation can be as easy as leaving a comment. Federal Teacher, a participant this year, has vowed to give at least 20 minutes to reading and responding to posts each month. This is a forum that begs you to write too. KFox, a National Academy Preceptor, has pledged to write one new post each quarter and I’m going to try to match him. We posted his work about Constitutional Teaching last year and Melani posted her thoughts on nomos after her presentation last week. We all have a start. We just need to work together to keep the momentum.

If we each make a pledge to meet in this virtual space on a schedule that fits our life in the real world, we can continue the conversations and work together to teach constitutional citizenship.