By Faith Eckley
On November 13, Jefferson’s Constitutional Law class took over the DEC Forum to host a “Let’s Talk About Your Rights Fair” with the goal of reminding Jefferson students and staff about their constitutional rights. The assignment at hand was to create an interactive piece, such as a video, pamphlet, poster, or carnival game to grab the attention of attendees. The fair consisted of different booths featuring students’ interactive and creative projects designed to teach about the constitutional rights of their choosing. Constitutional Law students went above and beyond, creating educational and interactive projects reflecting on what they have learned in class throughout the semester.
Sources by Faith Eckley
Junior Imran Sekagya and sophomore Sheldon Chancio hold up their flyers; sophomore Meghan McKenna poses next to her poster.
Professor Bryce Renninger designed the assignment and organized the fair. When asked to comment on Constitutional Law class and the fair, Professor Renninger said, “We talk about constitutional rights in a few different ways in this class. Sometimes, we see ourselves as advocates, interpreting what the Constitution says and arguing for what we think it means. Another thing we do is report as journalists on cases that deal with Constitutional issues and we look at what advocates, lawyers, parties, and judges think about those cases. This fair was designed to educate people and to work through these issues ourselves…Once the Supreme Court gives us some sort of finality about what a constitutional principle means, what do we do with that? How does that apply to our every day lives, and how can we internalize any constitutional protections we have? The know your rights workshop has a long history within civil rights and civil liberties communities and organizations. Those things tend to be presented in an interactive context, so I thought adding the interactive element to an in-class Know Your Rights assignment was important.”
Students who participated in the fair reflected on their experience of completing their projects and running their booths.
Sources by Faith Eckley
Sophomores Erik Mendenhall and Amy Muhametaj are ready to present; sophomores Aminah Ahmadi and Kai Simatos smile for a picture.
“We’re very excited to extend our knowledge to our peers and enjoyed being able to use different creative outlets to show our knowledge to the people,” said sophomores Aminah Ahmadi and Kali Simatos who worked together on the project.
“I feel like this fair has been very interactive and it has been a great learning experience because it gives everyone a sense of what their rights are,” said junior Imran Sekagya who created a pamphlet on Miranda rights.
“It was a very fun assignment,” said sophomore Amy Muhametaj.
“I had a lot of fun. I was really happy that people could make it to the fair to see everyone’s work because everyone put a lot of effort into their projects,” said sophomore Giselle Callejas.
“I thought everyone’s projects were phenomenal and there was so much to learn about everyday interactions with the government that people may not realize impacts their lives,” said sophomore Meghan McKenna.
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