History comes to Macopin

Historic Overview: The United States Constitutional Convention (a.k.a. the Philadelphia Convention) took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. Although the Convention was intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the 55 delegates attending the Convention soon discovered that creating a new government was necessary rather than fixing the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.

- Provided by Macopin social studies teacher Krista Provost

WEST MILFORD — History came to Macopin Middle School as they held the annual Philadelphia Convention on Jan. 28, where eighth grade students in their social studies classes were assigned certain historical delegates, the founders of our country, to represent and then reenacted debates from the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in their classes.

Eighth grade Social Studies teachers Robert Callamari, Krista Provost, and Gregory Zackaroff, prepared lessons about the founding fathers and framers of the Constitutional Convention and introduced topics that were debated by the delegates, such as whether to abolish or revise the Articles of Confederation, representation of the states, slavery, the office of the chief executive and how to elect the president, and finally, deciding whether or not to ratify the Constitution.

According to Provost,
“Students were assigned a delegate who attended the convention, prepared research on their delegate, transformed into their delegate by wearing a colonial costume - typically homemade - and then debated the previously discussed topics in class,” said Provost.

She said the students used “Robert’s Rules of Order” in conducting the debates, which were led by the student-delegate chosen to represent George Washington.

The role of George Washington was assigned by the students, and the student Washington took control of the class for the 45-minute period, successfully leading the class through the debates. Provost said the students created their own “Class- Period Constitutions” by debating similar topics and voting on their own class plans.

“Some plans wanted to establish 2 or 3 presidents in the executive branch, other plans called for the abolishment of slavery as of 1800, and finally some classes followed the more traditional route and followed the ideas of our Framers,” said Provost.

The students then signed their “Class Constitution” on the last day of the debates, and enjoyed a “ratification celebration” to conclude their hard work throughout the week of debating.

According to Provost, the Macopin tradition of reliving the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 began over a decade ago in former Social Studies teacher Joe Trentacosta’s classes. Trentacosta and Provost then further developed the event to make the social studies debates more realistic for the students, as they “step” into their delegates’ shoes and reenact history.

The 8th grade social studies teachers have since added new and innovative lessons and activities to enhance the event over the years. Provost said the event has evolved into an 8th grade school-wide interdisciplinary lesson, in which other subject teachers also prepare lessons that coincide with the time period and events for the first day of the social studies debates. The teachers and students also take part in dressing in authentic clothing from that time period.

“Science classes discuss yellow fever, the temperature during the hot summer of 1787, and other issues contented to the 8th grade curriculum; Language Arts classes read the novel ‘Fever of 1793’ and bring up important topics to connect with the social studies classes; Math classes use calculations to help the student-delegates determine their state’s number of representatives under the New Jersey Plan and Virginia Plan, equal vs. proportional representation,” Provost said.

The students “benefitted greatly” from this, she added, as “the best learning takes place when the students can make real world connections.”

The hallways were filled with delegates in between each class period; all dressed in their costumes and ready to win a class debate with their arguments they created the night before.

“This year the students really got into the project, and it was amazing to see so many students dressed in their costumes throughout the day,” Provost added. “The staff and student body took the Philadelphia Convention project to a whole new level this year.”