Teramo. The Constitution understood not only as a system of recognized fundamental principles but as “a formidable harmonious revolutionary masterpiece against all indifference”.
Is the message that the mayor Gianguido D’Alberto wanted to launch to the students during the final event of the project “The Constitution in the classroom”, promoted by Giuffre Francis Lefebvrea leader in legal and fiscal professional publishing, married by the Municipal Administration and created thanks to the collaboration between the Municipality and the Publishing House.
An event that took place this morning at the Municipal Theater and which saw the authoritative constitutional lawyer as a speaker Michael Ainiswhose lesson was preceded by the interventions of the mayor, of the Councilor with responsibility for Public Education Andrew Coreby the Director of Communications and Institutional Relations of Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre Antonio Delfinoby the Director of the Law Department of the University of Teramo Emanuela Pistoiaby the Professor of Constitutional Law of the University of Teramo Enzo DiSalvatoreof the President of the Order of Lawyers Antonio Lessianiof the director of the provincial school office Clara Moschella.
In his lesson, Professor Ainis reminded the students of the “beauty” of our Constitution, to which intellectuals such as Marchesi and Calamandrei contributed.
“The Constitution is the collective identity card of a people – said Professor Michele Ainis aimed at students – that’s why when we often talk about constitutional reforms with the copy and paste model, taking the French or American model as a reference, it doesn’t work. Because different peoples have different constitutions. And how is the Italian constitution different? What distinguishes us most, as a people, I believe is the ability to seek and recreate the beautiful. It is no coincidence that there was the Renaissance in Italy and it is no coincidence that Dante, the greatest poet in history, was Italian. A beauty that is reflected in our Constitution, in its fundamental values, in the language in which it was written. The experience you have had this year represents an experience of constitutional pedagogy and I have read with great interest the variations on the theme reported in the booklets created. For example, in the primary volume you wrote that the school is a small society, and it is very true. And how society has its own rules, rights and duties”.
Today’s appointment came at the conclusion of a national initiative that started in Teramo, born from the desire of the Publishing House to make an important contribution to the diffusion of constitutional values. Initiative immediately embraced by the Municipality and which materialized in a project of education to democratic life dedicated to the youngest, which saw as the first stage the delivery – to 2800 children belonging to the last classes of all levels of Teramo – of the constitutional text with a preface by Enzo Di Salvatore, Professor of Constitutional Law at the Department of Law of the University of Teramo.
“This project has represented an extraordinary journey that we have made together and of which you guys have been the protagonists – underlined Mayor Gianguido D’Alberto – just as, according to the Constitution, you are protagonists of our future. A future that has no time, of which our Constitution is a permanent engine. The extraordinary message of this project, for which I thank Giuffrè and all the institutions that have worked with us, is that the Constitutional Charter is not only the fundamental law of the State, but a vision of the world, of society, which launches the message extraordinary of the centrality of the person with respect to the institutions, which must operate in function of the development of the human person, in the right of each to happiness.
“Seeing the theater full of boys and girls demonstrates how this project, carried out together with Giuffrè whom I thank, has represented a positive investment for the area – he said Councilor Andrea Core – bringing the Constitution into the classroom, having a dialogue with students, is essential to ensure that our Constitutional Charter is not seen by young people as an abstract element but rather represented as a concrete element in daily choices, a compass that guides and permeates our every action in a constant path of growth”.
“We are very happy to have started from Teramo for our initiative, The Constitution in the classroom, and the results tell us that we have done very well – he declared Antonio Delfino – We are making available all our experience as Publisher and legal culture that we have helped to spread in almost a century of life, together with all those who can make a concrete contribution to the dissemination of constitutional principles. Thousands of students of all levels, from Teramo and then gradually going up and down the peninsula, read the articles of our fundamental Charter, listen to the lessons of academics, magistrates, lawyers, representatives of the institutions, comment and elaborate their personal Constitution . A great satisfaction for all of us who believed in it”.
Between the months of March and May of last school year, there were several classes that had the opportunity to participate in in-depth meetings within their schools, meetings that saw the participation of representatives of the municipal administration (including including Mayor Gianguido D’Alberto), lawyers, university professors and magistrates, with the aim of developing students’ knowledge of the Constitution.
In particular, the Zippilli/Noè Lucidi comprehensive school, the Villa Vomano primary school – Falcone and Borsellino state comprehensive school, Teramo 2 IC Savini – San Giuseppe – San Giorgio – F. Savini secondary school participated in the project. , Teramo 4 ICS Nicolò, Melchiorre Delfico National Boarding School – Primary School and Dance High School, A. Einstein Scientific High School, IIS Alessandrini Marino, IIS Di Poppa Rozzi, G. Milli State High School – Human Sciences. Institutes whose students have developed laboratory courses in the classroom that have led to the creation of two specific publications: “Long live the Constitution” and “The Constitution of the boys'”, with the introduction of the Mayor of Teramo and edited by Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre.
“Seeing this room full of students is beautiful – he said Clara Moschella – initiatives such as these are spread throughout the territory, because knowledge of the Constitution represents knowledge that cuts across the various disciplines, but the unicum of this project proposal is that the main actors in this project were the students, who at the end of this trip have drawn up a booklet that also represents the silent work not only of the managers but above all of the teachers, who with painstaking patience come out of their disciplinary skills in the strict sense and work on human capital”.
“Too often in Western societies we hear about the disaffection with voting, the lack of interest in politics, the propensity to mind only one’s own business – underlined Professor Emanuela Pistoia – but this is possible only because there is a rule of law, a constitution, institutions that work. In states where there are no Democracies, where there is no Constitution, where there is no rule of law, children cannot go to school with serenity, play with friends, grown-ups cannot decide what job to do. We owe our peace of mind and our private life to the existence of the Constitution and I hope that this project has brought you awareness of this added value”.
The professed Enzo Di Salvatore he recalled how “this project was a wonderful experience for me. During the lessons, the most recurring question from the students was the one about my favorite article. In reality all the articles are somewhat my favourites, but the one that is least mentioned is article 4, on the right to work, which in the second part says that every “citizen has the duty to carry out, according to his or her possibilities and one’s own choice, an activity or a function which contributes to the material or spiritual progress of society”. An article that reminds us how we have rights and duties and how society needs each of us”. Professor Di Salvatore therefore invited the students to “always have the Constitution on their bedside table. The Constitutional Charter needs legs to walk, and that someone is us”.
Among the speeches that of president of the Bar Association Antonio Lessiani.
“Today’s event represents a wonderful moment – said Lessiani – there are our political representatives, the scholastic institutions, our university. But above all there are you, who will be the future mayors, professors, leaders of our city. Professor Di Salvatore reminded us of the teaching of Piero Calamandrei, whose speech I invite you to look for to the students of Milan in which he said that the Constitution is a machine that needs to be powered to run. Appointments like this go exactly in that direction”.
“The Constitution in the classroom”, for the younger students the academics take the chair