What to Learn at 250

I was 15 years old when American celebrated its 200^th birthday. America was recovering from a war we lost halfway around the world, and from a U.S. executive branch scandal and eventual presidential resignation. Gas prices and inflation were soaring. America was not in a good place.

But nevertheless, I took pride in celebrating the 200^th anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. I was an active member in my county’s bicentennial commission work, including designing a bicentennial coin. Our commission planted 13 trees, each one the state tree of the original 13. I was recognized as one of the youngest leaders of any bicentennial commission in the country.

I must admit that our 250^th birthday feels different than 50 years ago. There has been little fanfare for events leading up to this year’s July 4^th – no local re-creation of Paul Revere’s ride, no meetings of local leaders planning celebratory events, no Revolutionary War battle re-enactments.

But one thing is similar between 1976 and 2026 – our nation seems to be at a crossroads and it’s a complicated time for teachers to celebrate America’s 250^th anniversary.

Recently, EducationWeek focused on the confusion felt by teachers trying to teach young learners what to understand about our nation’s semiquincentennial. Here are excerpts from that article:

“What are the most important ideals that shaped the founding of the United States? And how should we interpret and apply these values today?”

“The answers to these questions are complex and exist in a constant state of revision and reimagination in this country. They are also the focus of particularly pointed debate right now. And as is frequently the case, Americans’ anxieties and disagreements about them have a way of filtering down to classrooms.”

Recently 50 teachers attended a workshop at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to discuss how to best teach America’s 250^th birthday.

“’We’ve had a lot of modern examples where students can look at these things in action and assess how well the system is working,’ said Kelley Brown, a U.S. history and government teacher at Easthampton High School in Massachusetts.”

“’What were the original intentions? Do we still see that today? Does that matter?’ Brown said. ‘To me, it provides a very rich environment to discuss the founding ideas.’”

“There’s a tension between wanting to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment for our country, for mankind, this brilliant gift of the thoughts that are put together in the [Declaration of Independence]…obviously, something you want to commemorate as a celebration,’ said Shannon Salter, a high school civics teacher in Allentown, Pennsylvania, who also participated in the workshop.”

“More so than in reading or math, social studies teachers tend to have wide latitude over the resources that they us in the classroom. In a 2024 survey of high school history teachers across nine states, at least 81% of educators said they could choose all of the readings and assignments they gave to students.”

One workshop teacher, Megan Thompson from the Minneapolis suburbs, teaches a crime course to high schoolers. Given the events around the Twin Cities the past several months, Thompson’s focus has been on the 4^th Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.

“In the context of the 250^th, my students are certainly more aware of the things that make you want to revolt, and the things that make you want to stand up and speak out,’ Thompson said. ‘It creates a greater appreciation for the 250^th than we could have ever imagined.’”

The workshop participants produced a lesson guide that will be made public this spring for other educators to use when teaching about America’s 250^th birthday.

Til tomorrow. SVB