Each year, Beverly Smith and several other members of the Daughters of the American Revolution try to take Austin fifth-graders back in time.

Saturday, September 23, 2000

Each year, Beverly Smith and several other members of the Daughters of the American Revolution try to take Austin fifth-graders back in time.

With a poster as a visual aid, Smith’s words paint a picture of how the Constitution of the United States was born.

Smith tells the children of what the founding fathers endured while composing the words by which Americans live.

From the wools suits the men wore to the stuffy room with closed windows to the conflicts that arose when as many as 50 men tried to work together, Smith tells the children everything. She wants them to know it wasn’t an easy job.

"I didn’t know what happened, what they did," 10-year-old Caitlin Stephenson said.

"Yeah, we didn’t know about the room or what they wore," agreed Travis Osborne, 10.

Neither student in Patricia Anderson’s class at Sumner had any idea of the process the men went through in writing the Constitution until Smith came to their class Friday.

Smith and Polly Jelinek visited 10 different fifth grade classes in Austin, teaching about the Constitution and giving the children flags donated by the VFW.

For Smith, it wasn’t only an important opportunity to talk about the Constitution and Citizenship Week. It was also a chance to work with children again – something Smith enjoys as a retired first grade teacher. She taught at Sumner for 31 years.

"One thing DAR focuses on is education, in addition to patriotism," Smith said. She feels that fifth graders are at an age where they can understand the rights and responsibilities the Constitution offers.

She also feels it’s important for them to understand the Constitution and the rights it guarantees.