What’s Happening: On Wednesday, September 17, Ramsey High School students celebrated Constitution Day at a statewide event at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center — our first step toward becoming a Revolutionary School.
Students watched a preview of Ken Burns’ new documentary, “The American Revolution,” then heard a panel discussion led by Brian Williams with Burns, filmmaker Sarah Botstein, and Columbia historian Dr. Christopher Brown. Governor Murphy introduced the panel, making it a truly unique student experience.
Why This Matters: Revolutionary Schools is an initiative of the NJDOE and RevolutionNJ to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution by helping schools integrate local history and civic engagement into the curriculum. By highlighting New Jersey’s vital role, we help students connect more deeply to our shared American history.
The Big Picture: We are proud to join this statewide effort. Revolutionary Schools will give our students opportunities to take an active role in celebrating our nation’s semiquincentennial.
What they’re saying: "Historians are master storytellers, but how a story as important as the American Revolution gets told is not so simple. At this NJPAC event, students got a behind-the-scenes look at how the art of filmmaking and the work of historians collide in the form of documentary film. As we approach our nation's 250th birthday, this presents students with the opportunity to think critically about whose story gets told, and the most effective tools we have to understand our true past in all its rich complexity." - Mr. Daniel Willever
Go Deeper: Learn more about RevolutionNJ on their website.