In 1961, Congress passed a resolution designating May 1st of each year as Law Day. In most states, Law Day activities occur sometime during the first week in May. The most frequent activity is to have an attorney speak to a class. The American Bar Association develops lesson plans each year to be used by visiting attorneys. Delaware also has materials on a variety of topics that are available for use. Last year was the Center's first year of assisting with Law Day. The Supreme Court of Delaware, the Administrative Office of the Courts and members of Delaware's Bar coordinate the program.
The American Bar Association's Theme for Law Day is Law in the 21st Century: Enduring Traditions, Emerging Challenges. Delaware's Law Day in the Schools will cover the period from May 3 - May 7, 2010. Attorneys and judges will present a 45 minute lesson using material from the Deliberating in a Democracy program developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, The Constitutional Rights Foundation and Street Law, Inc. The goal of the program is to increase the knowledge, ability and dispositions of teachers and students to effectively participate in deliberations related to democratic principles. The topic for the deliberation is "Should our democracy allow school to punish students for off-campus cyberbullting"
The teacher will provide the students with a background reading for the lesson and the volunteer will be provided with a step-by-step outline on how to present the lesson, along with student handouts to use in class. You will need to copy and read the Reading and make 30 copies of the Student Handouts to take to class. Following is a link to the content material and the lesson plan.
To volunteer to participate in the program as an attorney, judge, or as a teacher please contact Pat Quann at delrecntr@aol.com. Please include the following information:
Additional plans may be found at the Law Day website.