By Randy Swikle

Ask any citizen what single word best describes America, and you’ll likely hear “Freedom!”

But when you ask a citizen to name the five freedoms of the First Amendment, fewer than 2 in 100 can do it.

Sept. 17 is Constitution Day. Since Congress passed that annual designation in 2004, every school and college that receives federal money must teach about the Constitution on or adjacent to that date.

Constitution Day puts the focus on our schools.

In a Freedom Forum “State of the First Amendment” survey, 63 percent rated the U.S. educational system’s job of teaching students about First Amendment freedoms as “fair” or “poor;” only 5 percent rated the job as “excellent.”

Being released in conjunction with Constitution Day is another study by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that reports less than half of all high school students say they have heard of “Constitution Day;” and only about 1 in 10 remember how their own high school celebrated that day in the last school year.

These studies suggest that in many schools one of the most significant doctrines of American freedom is ineffectively taught and seldom exercised and that the most significant document of American government is not appreciated in a memorable way on its legislated commemoration day.

So what’s the fix?

• Rather than pay a cosmetic tribute to the First Amendment and U.S. Constitution on a single day, engage in practicing democracy in school yearlong. Schools should be laboratories of democratic freedom.

• Educate for citizenship by honoring student rights and promoting civic responsibility. That means to teach and model the democratic principles of the U.S. Constitution.

• Accept students among the other partners of educational planning. Treat students not as mere subordinates but rather as stakeholders who are encouraged to offer input on school and world issues.

A lesson plan that conceptually covers an aspect of the U.S. Constitution is not enough to satisfy the intent of Constitution Day. If that Day is to be meaningful and memorable, teachers must reach beyond abstract studies and engage in concrete actions that will positively impact the school culture.

The 3Rs of Constitution Day are rights, responsibilities and respect. As students come to appreciate that balance, school culture will change for the better and democracy rather than autocracy will drive the school mission toward engagement and excellence.

And by the way, if you don’t know the five freedoms of the First Amendment, they are religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

(Randy Swikle of Johnsburg, Ill., is a retired teacher and journalism adviser and former Dow Jones Newspaper Fund teacher of the year.)