Members of the Breckenridge High School FFA leadership team raise flags during a ceremony at the school on Wednesday. Students gathered in front of the school to celebrate Constitution Week. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Breckenridge High School students came together in front the school on Wednesday morning for a flag raising ceremony to honor the U.S. Constitution.
The presentation, which is sponsored each year by the Lee’s Legion of the Daughters of American Revolution, celebrates Constitution Week, which is Sept. 17-22 this year. The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787.
During the ceremony, the Breckenridge High School Band played the National Anthem and members from the school’s Future Farmers of America program raised the flag. Senior Diana Patterson, president of the FFA, then recited the preamble of the U.S. Constitution.
Lisa Echols, the Regent for the Lee’s Legion of the DAR, which includes the communities of Breckenridge, Albany and Moran, said the program is designed to educate young people about the constitution. She said it teaches them the importance of working together and making compromises for the good of everybody.
Echols said she hoped the students would gain a spirit of the compromise from the activities, especially in light of today’s divisive political climate.
BHS senior Diana Patterson, president of the FFA recites the preamble of the U.S. Constitution during a flag raising ceremony at the school on Wednesday. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)
She said they learn that although we seem to live in a world where nobody is willing to discuss and compromise, more than 200 years ago, they had to lock the people in a room in Pennsylvania to get them to come together. They had to be forced to recognize that it didn’t matter that they were independent states, they needed to have a common currency and to go forward as a united nation.
“I’m hoping that’s something that they can get out of this and hopefully we’re educating them before they can get into that mentality — recognize that we have to work together as the United States of America,” she said.
The organization will hold flag raising ceremonies at Albany and Moran high schools on Friday morning. She said that in addition to the flag raising ceremonies at the high schools in each community, they also work with fifth graders to put on plays that teach the students about the Constitution. She said that, in the play, each of the states is represented and the students communicate with each other and see that is was not an easy plan but that got it done.
“We key in on the fact that they (fifth graders) are already studying American History,” she said. “In fact, one of the teachers in Albany on Monday told me that they’ll study the Constitution in two weeks. So this is a great lead in for them study the Constitution.”
She said the feedback from students has been positive. For example, Patterson, who recited the preamble during the presentation, said that as Bryan Dieterich, the school’s principal had pointed out at the beginning of the ceremony, Constitution Week is often overlooked. But for the FFA, a national group with a lot of tradition, it’s actually a very big event.
“It’s really powerful to watch the flags go up and know that we still have the freedom to raise our flag,” she said. “Just because we can’t give back to all of those who served for us every day, we give back to them by showing our gratitude and our thanks, and to take events like this serious.”
Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Cutline, top photo: Members of the Breckenridge High School FFA leadership team prepare the flags to be raised during a ceremony at the school on Wednesday to honor Constitution Week. The presentation was sponsored by the Lee’s Legion of the Daughters of American Revolution. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
