Celebrating Constitution Day and New Hampshire’s efforts to bolster civics education

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CONCORD, NH (September 17, 2024) — As we celebrate Constitution Day, which recognizes the adoption of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787 and those who have become American citizens, New Hampshire remains steadfast in its commitment to educate and prepare young people on how to effectively participate in our Constitutional Republic. 

Earlier this year, the New Hampshire Department of Education expanded on its existing partnership with Discovery Education to support the development of informed students who are eager and ready for civic engagement. 

“Preparing students to understand how their government works, and the principles upon which it is established, is vital to empower them to realize the potential of our State and Nation. Carving out time in the classroom to focus on the importance of civics will inevitably inspire and equip our students with critical thinking skills about our system of government so they can ultimately change the world for the better,” said Ovide Lamontagne, chairman of the Commission on New Hampshire Civics.  

Discovery Education is currently creating engaging civics resources built expressly for New Hampshire students, which includes 48 multimodal, interactive and online lessons in grades K-5, 15 lessons in grades 6-8 and 15 lessons in grades 9-12. The materials created by Discovery Education will be featured in a custom New Hampshire Civics Channel with Discovery Education Experience, which is currently available at no cost to schools statewide. The new civics resources will include ready-to-use lessons that can easily be integrated into instruction such as: New Hampshire-centric digital assets featuring state specific artifacts; primary source documents that help develop students’ understanding of their state government and constitution; and other custom created videos, interactives and educational supports that help frame engaging civics questions for all learners.  

“Teaching young people their rights and responsibilities as citizens is more important than ever,” said Melissa Cunliffe of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District. “I’m grateful to NHED, the Commission on New Hampshire Civics, and Discovery Education for creating these powerful new lessons. They provide important background on New Hampshire’s critical role in history.”  

In 2021, NHED made Discovery Education content available, at no cost, to all New Hampshire educators when it selected the Discovery Education Experience learning platform to support local learning environments with high quality instructional material. Through this initial partnership, 100% of New Hampshire schools can use the Discovery platform and have engaged more than 1.6 million learning experiences.  

“Discovery Education Experience has been a tremendous addition to my classroom toolbox,” said Meghan McLain of SAU 15. “These resources help me engage all students with high quality digital resources.” 

“Discovery Education is proud to support NHED and the Commission on New Hampshire Civics as they promote civic engagement among New Hampshire’s youth,” said Coni Rechner, Discovery Education’s Senior Vice President of State and Strategic Partnerships. “In addition to creating these engaging new resources, we are pleased to also provide comprehensive professional learning that will help educators effectively use these tools in the classroom and maximize the state’s investment in civics education.”