Constitution Day

Sept. 17, 2026

2026 Theme: Road to the Constitution

Exercise the First Amendment and claim your civic rights

The Journalism Education Association hopes to help scholastic journalism students exercise the First Amendment and claim their civic rights. Constitution Day, observed Sept. 17 each year in commemoration of the signing of the United States Constitution, is an excellent time to do it.

There are many ways to celebrate and learn about Constitution Day and the First Amendment. Below are lesson plans and activities curated by JEA's Scholastic Press Rights Committee to help students learn how to exercise their First Amendment rights. These materials could be the focus of Constitution Day activities or be used any time throughout the year.

Constitution Day is also a great time to review student press rights particular to your community. How aware are your students of their own editorial policy? School board policy? Guidelines for ethical performance and meaningful, all-encompassing staff manual? How about the existence (or lack thereof) of a New Voices law? Are there ways your students could strengthen or improve their specific protections? You can always check out additional resources on JEA.org or through the Student Press Law Center.

Constitution Day classroom materials

This year’s theme, Road to the Constitution(opens in new tab), highlights the years between the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the first signing of the Constitution in 1787, leading up to Constitution Day on Sept. 17, 2026.

The JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee has put together a set of classroom materials, including lesson plans and other resources, centered around this year's theme for teachers to use in their classrooms on Constitution Day, Sept. 17.