Naperville is celebrating the U.S. Constitution, 239 years after it was first signed.
Honoring tradition
Annual Constitution Week festivities kicked off Sept. 17 at Brookdale Elementary School, as members of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Fort Payne Chapter rang the school bell with students and faculty.
It’s a tradition groups across the country participate in each year, a nod to the document’s 1787 signing.
“Back then they didn’t have a telephone to pick up or the TV to say, ‘We now have a constitution that’s been signed in Philadelphia,’ so they ran outside and rang the bells. So we rang the bells at their school, and I think they were kind of putting two and two together,” Wrenne Jakubiak, a DAR member, said.
Educational opportunities
Brookdale Principal Dr. Keeley Schmid said Constitution Week is a great way to merge classroom lessons and real-life experiences.
“For (students), 239 years ago seems so far away. So making a connection at a child-friendly level of what does that mean in their little worlds and connecting that on our announcements,” Schmid said. “And then today during class, teachers will connect it to Constitution Day at their developmentally appropriate level to make sure they understand how special it is that we still have our founding Constitution.”
Constitution Week origins
The celebrations run Sept. 17-23 each year and began with the DAR in 1955.
The group petitioned Congress to dedicate a full week to honoring the founding document, and the resolution was made law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower the following year.
Mayoral proclamation
Mayor Scott Wehrli issued a proclamation at the Municipal Center in honor of the celebrations, speaking on the importance of the Constitution’s guiding principles for Naperville today.
“When you look at the history behind the document and all of the things that have contributed to it over the course of our time, in the time of generations before us, it really is an amazing thing to celebrate,” Wehrli said.
The city’s three libraries are also helping to teach the public about the Constitution, with informative displays at each.
Celebrations chime on
The day chimed on with even more bells ringing across the community, including at Naper Elementary School and the Millennium Carillon.
DAR members rang handbells at 3 p.m. — 4 p.m. ET — the exact time the signing of the Constitution was announced in Philadelphia in 1787.
Songs like ‘God Bless America’ and ‘America the Beautiful’ could be heard throughout downtown Naperville as the Carillon played the festivities out.
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