HARRISBURG (Sept. 21, 1999) -- Twenty thousand students from 74 schools in 50 Pennsylvania counties today joined Pennsylvania Education Secretary Eugene W. Hickok, Pennsylvania Bar Association President Louis N. Teti and Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas President Judge James Knoll Gardner in signing the U.S. Constitution through a live webcast and television broadcast.

The broadcasted signing at the State Capitol, which included students from the Allentown Area School District, also featured a performance of the nationally-acclaimed �Four Little Pages� sponsored by the National Constitution Center. This play, created in 1987 for the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, depicts the Constitution�s founders and framers at work.

�Today, these students become a part of history, just as our forefathers did when they penned their names to the document known as the Constitution,� Hickok said. �What students should take from this signing is the meaning of the words on the parchment and not just an understanding of how this document affected history, but how it affects their lives today.�

This year�s Constitution signing, the first coordinated statewide signing effort, was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and National Constitution Center, and locally by many county bar associations.

The �I Signed the Constitution� program is part of the larger national celebration of Constitution Week, September 17-23. Since 1993, an estimated 1.7 million people have signed the Constitution at national parks, libraries, schools and malls across America. The purpose of the program is to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution, its history and its relevance.

�According to a recent National Constitution Center survey, 58 percent of America�s youth can name Bill Gates as the �father� of Microsoft, but only 2 percent can identify James Madison as the �father� of the U.S. Constitution,� noted PBA President Louis N. Teti. �As such, the PBA is launching an educational effort this school year to help change those percentages by working with Pennsylvania teachers and schools to lay a foundation for teaching civics and government in the classroom.�

The �I Signed the Constitution� celebration held at most schools around the commonwealth kicked-off with students viewing the festivities from the State Capitol live over the Internet through a webcast or on television on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.

Secretary Hickok, PBA President Teti and President Judge Gardner talked to students statewide about the importance of the Constitution and how it affects their daily lives. There also were live performances later in the day by the �Four Little Pages� at the State Capitol and Good Shepherd School in Camp Hill.

Following the broadcast from Harrisburg, schools hosted local programs that featured local judges, lawyers and/or legislators as speakers and local signings of the mock Constitution. The Constitution scrolls signed by the students will be sent to the new National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for display.

For more information on the �I Signed the Constitution� Program and the national celebration of Constitution Week, visit the National Constitution Center�s website at www.constitutioncenter.org. For more information on Pennsylvania�s program and a list of participating schools, visit the Pennsylvania Bar Association�s website at www.pabar.org.