Florida

As we approach Constitution Day, it’s worth exploring whether educators are prepared to teach students about the Constitution and its history in a manner that is accurate, effective and engaging. While it may not be widely known, numerous organizations spend their summers offering workshops and institutes to equip teachers with the resources to teach civics and American history during the school year.

As Americans celebrate the achievements of our nation’s workers this Labor Day, Philanthropy Roundtable is proud to support organizations that eliminate barriers to upward mobility, expand opportunity and reward hard work.

Philanthropy Roundtable recently sat down with Denisha Allen (Merriweather), founder of Black Minds Matter, a “national movement to celebrate Black minds, support excellence and promote the development of high-quality school options for Black students.” Allen, an American Federation for Children senior fellow, is a champion for school choice and a Florida tax-credit scholarship recipient. Through Black Minds Matter, she hopes to help provide access to an excellent education for every Black student.

This year our country celebrates its 247th birthday – commemorating the 13 American colonies’ declaration of independence from Great Britain. The newly formed American republic was based on the idea that all people are created equal with fundamental, inalienable rights that cannot be taken or given away. As we continue to cherish our democracy and the American way of life, it’s worth remembering that its strength depends on our shared understanding of this country’s history and founding principles.  

Presidents’ Day was originally a commemoration of George Washington’s birthday. He considered civic virtue to be essential, saying in his famous Farewell Address, “Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government,” and to Marquis Lafayette that the government "can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form; so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.”