PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Student delegates from 27 states are in Philadelphia this week to retrace the steps of the Founding Fathers and make some declarations of their own.
“To go down the cobblestone streets that our Founding Fathers walked down, it’s awe-inspiring,” said Christy Marrella, a humanities teacher at Rosa Middle School in Cherry Hill.
A fife and drum corps led high school delegates on a march to Carpenters' Hall Monday, where students began the weeklong Young People’s Continental Congress. They’ll be shown how 250 years ago the Second Continental Congress met to draft the Declaration of Independence, and they’ll consider its meaning in today’s America.
“Standing in the place where it happened, I think, kind of embeds it in your spirit a little more,” said Jen Ameigh, a teacher at Sayre High School in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
“If you don't know what you're headed for, [if] you don't know the reasons why our country was founded, you can't fight to maintain them.”
Sophia Hyatt, a junior at Sayre, said she’s trying to appreciate the perspective of the Founding Fathers.
“It’s always important to like, understand the values that we fought for — what the struggle was to get here,” she said. “Just knowing that helps you to have a better understanding of the world.”
Adam Smeglin, a junior at Cherry Hill High School East, is also looking at American history through a contemporary lens.
“Seeing how these documents, how they’ve shaped time, but they’ve also been shaped by time,” Smeglin said. “In today’s context, it’s really important just to view how every new generation is impacted by these documents yet also impacts these documents, and how we always have the opportunity to make changes.”
Among the week of activities organized by the nonprofit National History Day, students will sign a joint declaration of their own aspirations for American democracy.
“People might see different backgrounds or different places, but the truth is we all are part of one country and the goal is to make things better,” said Theodora Ordaz, a senior at Valle Verde Early College High School in El Paso, Texas. It’s a concept endorsed by Theodora’s teacher, Julietta Rojas.
“The Founding Fathers came and they engaged in this project and they had to talk it out, and I think we could use a little bit more of civil discourse, and so I think what a great opportunity,” Rojas said.
Students will also visit the National Constitution Center and the Museum of the American Revolution, and have dinner with elected officials at Philadelphia City Hall during the week of YPCC activities.