Young People's Continental Congress Returns to Philly

Last year, during a trip to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Liz Taylor puzzled over the penmanship of the founding fathers. A history teacher at J.R. Masterman High School, Taylor was surprised at how their cursive handwriting, seen up close — especially the formidable signature of Alexander Hamilton — helped bring the primary documents to life.

“It really made actual human history come alive in this very real, messy human way that I really appreciated,” Taylor says.

Taylor, along with one of her students, Halimah Fasasi, was participating in a pilot version of the Young People’s Continental Congress (YPCC), a program that is returning to Philadelphia right now. Student-teacher “delegate” teams from across the U.S. and Guam are gathering this week in Carpenters’ Hall — the setting of the First Continental Congress in 1774 — for immersive historical programming. Carpenters’ Hall and National History Day, (not a holiday but) a nonprofit organization focused on civics education around the country, jointly run YPCC.

Members of the Young People's Continental Congress at Independence National Historical Park. — YPCC participants at Independence National Historical Park.

This year’s 27 participating student-teacher duos represent an expansion of the program’s scope and long-term vision. While the pilot program included teams from the 13 original colonies, this year’s cohort is more geographically diverse, bringing together representatives from rural and urban schools.

“All of these founding principles and the reasons we became a country, there are things that are still being played out right now. And that affects all of us, no matter what state you’re from,” says Carpenters’ Hall Executive Director Michael Norris.

Another goal for YPCC: Help teachers “enhance the way they teach certain subjects,” says Norris, with an emphasis on the founding Constitutional principles that were developed in Philadelphia. The idea is that teachers will be able to bring home the passion and perspective they’ve gained by learning within the city’s historic sites.

“All of these founding principles and the reasons we became a country, there are things that are still being played out right now. And that affects all of us.” — Michael Norris, Carpenters’ Hall

Those hopes were realized in the experiences of Taylor and Fasasi last year. Even though they have each spent “considerable time” around Philly’s cultural institutions, YPCC’s place-based learning activities taught them a lot about their home. While Fasasi — who just finished 11th grade — helped fellow participants navigate around Reading Terminal Market and search for water ice, she loved getting the chance to see plenty of things for the first time in the city she’s from. And as for Taylor, prior to the start of the school year, she made an appointment for her class to visit the Historical Society and get to have the same experience as the students at YPCC.

“The original intent of the program wasn’t just a historical retread of what happened,” says Norris, “but to really explore: What does it mean now?”

YPCC: One-to-one programming

In November, YPCC organizers put out a nationwide call for applications, open to 10th and 11th-grade students and teachers from all types of schools — public, parochial, charter, private, or homeschool settings. The teams were selected in December, and completed monthly online learning modules together throughout the spring.

Barbara Stefani and Zhara Waters, this year’s teacher-student delegation from Wilmington, DE, say that they already agree, just from the online learning modules.

“I see Ms. Stefani during the school year, but only for 40 minutes a day. This is all day, every day. The modules really helped prepare me for that, because I got to know her on a more personal level, where we’re both learning together. It feels like we’re kind of equals now,” Waters says.

Members of the Young People's Continental Congress make wampum belts. — Young People’s Continental Congress members take part in a wampum belt-making activity.

Fasai says that last year, she enjoyed the switch from the typical classroom setting to a place where “your teachers are your peers for the first time ever,” and they could study documents and ask questions together.

Taylor adds, “it was really cool to be partners in learning,” since that’s often the goal of teaching, but it can be a difficult one to achieve while trying to meet the needs of 33 different students in a classroom.

In expanding the program, Carpenters’ Hall’s Norris says that organizers were careful to preserve the “intimacy of the conversation and the depth of the program impact,” that a smaller group facilitated, while welcoming a range of geographic backgrounds. For some activities, participants are in the full group of 54; some sessions are split in half.

Members of the Young People's Continental Congress take part in a flag parade at Independence National Historical Park. — YPCC’s flag procession to Carpenters’ Hall.

Exploring Philadelphia, then and now

Delegates spend much of their time engaged in lectures and group discussions in classroom spaces, at Carpenters’ Hall as well as the Constitution Center and the Museum of the American Revolution, two of the program’s “key” museum partnerships. The student-teacher pairs also get to dive into original sources of founding documents at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and get to visit other museums like the National Liberty Museum and the American Philosophical Society Museum.

There are non-museum activities: actors portraying Ben Franklin and Patrick Henry show up alongside a fife and drum corps, and students attend the Chinese Lantern Festival and witness a demonstration from American Heritage Chocolate’s Chocolate Historian Dave Borghesani.

This year, many civic institutions have stepped up to help fund and support YPCC. The Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Philadelphia Funding Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, among others, are donors. Even elected officials have endorsed the continuation of YPCC.

Members of the Young People's Continental Congress at Franklin Square on the carousel. — A YPCC excursion to Franklin Square.

“We are excited to welcome these bright students and teachers to the birthplace of our nation’s democracy,” wrote District 1 City Councilmember Mark Squilla in a press release. “City Council’s philanthropic support of YPCC is another investment in safeguarding our democracy, as these caring and dedicated high school students are our future leaders.

Where they stood

Stefani, the Wilmington teacher, previously lived in Philly for 10 years. She loved to “just roam around the city where all of the founding fathers roamed around.” For her student, Waters, this is the first trip to Philly.

Waters was excited to learn about George Washington in the museums on YPCC’s agenda, while Stefani was eagerly anticipating the Chinese Lantern Festival and her time in Carpenters’ Hall, which is, as the musical Hamilton calls it, “room where it happened.”

“We get to go inside and stand where they stood, and talk where they talk. So obviously that aspect is invigorating,” she says.

The travel logistics are more complex with this group: Last year, the program’s still-running Amtrak partnership could reach more participants. However, Norris says that even during the monthly online meetings, it’s already clear that the geographic diversity of rural and urban areas brings a “rich variety” of perspectives to the table.

“We’re continuing to try to build that more perfect union.” — Cathy Gorn, National History Day

According to National History Day Executive Director Cathy Gorn and Norris, it’s important for students to learn about the principles that the U.S. was founded upon, especially during this time of political division. Norris points to Nationhood Lab researcher and historian Colin Woodard’s recent research that found that most Americans share a vision for the country rooted in the civic ideals of the founding documents: rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“The revolutionary ideals and principles are still the guiding ideals and principles of the country and we’re still trying to figure out ways to make sure that they’re extended to all. We’re continuing to try to build that more perfect union,” Gorn says.

Gorn adds that she’s found the delegates, as well as the 500,000 kids that participate in National History Day each year to be “very in tune” with current human and civil rights issues, and interested in understanding the historical roots of modern problems. They embrace the program’s emphasis on providing evidence for claims, digging into primary sources to find answers for themselves.

“Some people claim that if we teach the difficult parts of our country’s history that somehow we’re going to be teaching kids to hate America or to feel guilty or feel sad about it but the exact opposite really happens. Kids come at it fresh, they’re not jaded by years of experience. And they know when you’re pulling the wool over their eyes,” Gorn adds.

This year, a major addition from the pilot program will be a joint declaration of the delegates’ aspirations for democracy in the U.S., intended to echo the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Colonial Rights. Waters already has an idea of what she wants to contribute.

“One of my favorite themes regarding American history in general is the right to fight for what you believe in, whether it be the revolution or peaceful protests or anything like that. I personally think having strong convictions that you can defend is a really good trait. So that’s probably what I will base my declaration about,” she says.