ABOUT THE 2005 COMPETITION
The Delaware Day Fourth Grade Competition Awards' Ceremony was held on December 3 at the State House Museum, located at 25 The Green in Dover, with more than 430 students, teachers, parents, family and friends in attendance. On behalf of Secretary of State, Dr. Harriet Smith Windsor, Timothy Slavin, Director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, distributed awards.
Secretary Windsor challenged fourth grade students throughout Delaware to study the Constitution and discover information about Delaware's role in its writing and ratification on Constitution Day, September 17, 2005. The Department prepared and distributed a special instructional resource packet to registered teachers. The competition supports select Delaware social studies and visual and performing arts standards as well as grade appropriate performance indicators.
Though students are asked general questions about the Constitution students and teachers study this 218 year old document in order to learn about Delaware's involvement with its writing and ratification and to apply their knowledge and explain their interpretation of a current event issue. This year, fourth graders investigated Article Two, Section Two of the U.S. Constitution and supported their opinions about presidential nominations while explaining the necessity of a checks and balances system.
During the week of November 14th, staff from the Department of State examined twenty-four, four-panel displays created by fourth grade students from Wilmington to Selbyville. Judges evaluated historical summaries and contextual information. They encountered original lyrics composed to popular tunes, poetry, a Ratification cheer, student-generated political cartoons, and enjoyed original student artwork including portraits of Delaware's signers, and caricatures such as an original "Ratification Rat" embellishing a word map defining the word "ratify."
2005 marks the Fourth Annual Fourth Grade Delaware Day Competition created by Secretary Windsor. Each year, names of teachers and students are added to the Department of State's Honor Roll. With the completion of this year's event the Department's Delaware Day Competition Honor Roll contains the names of 2,647 students and 140 teachers.
Five awards are given each year, named in honor of the Delaware signers of the U.S. Constitution.
- The George Read Award went to the Elbert-Palmer Intermediate School (Wilmington)
- The Gunning Bedford, Jr. Award went to the Cedar Lane Elementary School (Middletown)
- The John Dickinson Award went to the Booker T. Washington Elementary School (Dover)
- The Richard Bassett Award went to the Shields Elementary School (Lewes)
- The Jacob Broom Award, a four-way tie, acknowledging content and creativity, and was awarded to: McVey Elementary School (Newark); Etta J. Wilson Elementary School (Newark); Brandywine Springs Elementary School (Wilmington); and Silver Lake Elementary School (Middletown).
Honorable Mention Awards were given to:
- Brandywine Springs Elementary School (Wilmington)
- Cedar Lane Elementary School (Middletown)
- Highlands Elementary School (Wilmington),
- Linden Hill Elementary School (Wilmington)
- Long Neck Elementary School (Millsboro)
- MOT Charter School (Middletown)
- P.S. duPont Elementary School (Wilmington)
- Shields Elementary School (Lewes)
- Showell Elementary School (Selbyville)
- Townsend Elementary School (Townsend)
