Former Presidents Teach Constitutional Lesson to Ferguson-Florissant Students

Some students in the will get an opportunity to learn about the United States Constitution through an official perspective on Friday.

More than 180 students, including all American History course students in each high school and seven elementary students, will learn the powers of the executive branch from two former living presidents, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

The Constitution lesson is in observation of Constitution Day on Sept. 17 but being observed on Sept. 16.

Studio four teacher Kevin Hampton said that the video conference will be broadcast on TV and on the Internet.

“It’s neat for our students to get to do this,” he said. “It’s a totally different realm to do live video conferencing.”

HEC-TV will broadcast the conferences to four different locations that Hampton believes is in the St. Louis area, including at McCluer North.

The program, “Constitution Day 2011: The Powers of the President” will focus on explaining the separation of powers to students as well as discussing the actual power of the presidency.

A 10 a.m. show and a 1 p.m. show will be broadcast, where the first features the president and domestic issues and the next will include international issues.

Other program panelists will be featured in the constitutional discussion, including University of Missouri at St. Louis political science Professor David Robertson, attorney John Ross Truman—who’s also the nephew of late Pres. Harry S. Truman—attorney Greg Willard and Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site historian Pam Sanfilippo.