Andy McKean has seen the late-night TV routine. A talk-show host approaches people on the street and, without warning, fires political questions that stump his targets: What are the three branches of government? Who is the secretary of state? What are the Bill of Rights?
“I used to watch Jay Leno going out quizzing people about the president and vice president and them not knowing (the answers),” said McKean, a Centennial resident who has literally made it his full-time job to educate Americans in civics matters.
“People were laughing at it, and I didn’t think it was a laughing matter,” he said.
Now, with Sept. 17 looming, McKean’s mission has taken on a greater sense of urgency.
It is, after all, the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land, signed by the founders on that date in 1787. And this year, for the first time, legislation passed by Congress requires education institutions that receive federal funds to hold a program commemorating the date.
Aside from taking shipment of 25,000 new Constitution booklets that arrived at his Centennial office this week, McKean has been scurrying about trying to make sure schools are participating in Constitution Day.
Since April, he has been talking to Optimist, Kiwanis, Rotary and other service clubs. He has called school districts and news organizations to spread the word.
Many schools have activities planned. At Kullerstrand Elementary in Jefferson County, students will wear patriotic ribbons and discuss the Constitution.
At Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, students have been researching the constitutions of other countries and comparing them with the ideals of the U.S. Constitution.
In Douglas County, students, at the very least, will hear a statement about the Constitution, said Elizabeth S. Cutter, director of curriculum and instruction. Many schools are expected to do more, she said.
A former Peace Corps volunteer who lost his wife, Kathy, in a car crash last year, McKean said his passion for educating the public about the Constitution began in the 1990s, when he and his wife were working in a literacy program in Denver.
He recalled asking the students the purpose of July 4, Independence Day.
“One kid said, ‘We do fireworks,’ Another said, ‘We have a barbecue,”‘ he said. “Out of 218, no one knew the reason.”
Shortly after, he launched Liberty Day, a Centennial-based nonprofit that promotes civics education.
Earlier this year, at McKean’s urging, state Rep. Joe Stengel spearheaded a resolution that set aside $200,000 for civics education in Colorado, and recognized March 16 – the birthday of James Madison, the father of the Constitution – as Liberty Day.
“That’s his mission and he felt so strongly we were not doing an adequate job doing the Bill of Rights,” said Stengel, R-Littleton.
McKean said he feels many Americans take for granted the rights given them under the Constitution – when the rights should be a source of pride.
“To me, it’s the foundation of who we are as Americans,” he said.
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-820-1684 or krouse@denverpost.com.
