Students will participate in real-life civics lessons at naturalization ceremonies scheduled at National Park Service sites and other iconic places from Ellis Island to Pearl Harbor in celebration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on Friday, September 16.
This year, as part of the federal courts’ annual, national initiative, federal judges will swear in new citizens at courthouses, cultural landmarks, national parks, and historic places as part of the Park Service’s 100th anniversary year observance.
September 17 is the official anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787, but naturalization ceremonies are scheduled almost every day the week before that date. This year, during the third week of September, federal judges will administer the Oath of Allegiance at such national treasures as the Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park, in Appomattox, Va.; the Great Smoky Mountains, near Knoxville, Tenn.; the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, in West Branch, Iowa; and the Battleship USS Missouri Memorial, in Hawaii.
For more information about student participation in naturalization ceremonies, or schools hosting ceremonies for Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in 2017, contact the national outreach manager for the federal courts, Rebecca Fanning, at rebecca_fanning@ao.uscourts.gov.
Watch a video of last year’s ceremonies, above.