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SHRUG IT OFF
Most teenagers are more interested in hanging out with their friends and listening to the next cool band than diving into the United States Constitution. But that’s exactly how some students have been spending their mornings, afternoons, and evenings: studying and preparing to debate their peers all over the nation about the contents of the 200-year-old document. Their motivation? Prestige, honor, and thousands of dollars of scholarship money. Sponsored by the American Legion, these constitutional debates were started in 1938 with the intent to “develop deeper knowledge and appreciation for the U.S. Constitution among high school students,” according to the Legion’s website. In the process of writing the speeches they’ll debate, students under 20 learn the history of U.S. laws and develop a better understanding of the rights and privileges of American citizenship. The legion offers up over $188,000 annually in scholarship money to debate winners. WHAT DOESTHE CONSTITUTIONMEANTOYOU? Debating the Document That’s Shaped Our Country We tend to hold tension in our shoulders, too, so doing daily shoulder exercises can help to ease it. First is the shoulder shrug: Sitting or standing tall, shrug your shoulders up as high as you can, hold for a couple of seconds, then relax. Do this five times. Next, try shoulder rolls: Roll your shoulders back in a slow, exaggerated motion, engaging your shoulder blades to help you draw your shoulders back. Hold for a few seconds and repeat five times. FLEX IT OUT Our hip flexors are another muscle group affected by sitting, which can lead to tight muscles and pain when walking or running. Lengthen these muscles with a simple stretch: Step one foot out in front of the other and bend both knees so you are in a lunge position. Rest your back leg on the ground if it is more comfortable. Keep your back straight, and shift your body weight forward. “I tell patients to think of an X on the front of the hip of the back leg. Imagine pushing this X forward while not letting your back arch,” says physical therapist Dr. Erin Policelli. FOOT RELEASE Sitting a lot can shorten some of the muscles in your feet, too, which are crucial for good balance. Help ease foot tension with this stretch: Kneel on the floor, arranging your legs under you so your shins and the tops
of your feet are on the floor and your glutes are resting on the bottoms of your feet. Maintain an upright posture. Raise yourself slightly, pick up your heels, and tuck your toes under. Slowly ease your weight back over your feet so that your glutes are resting on your heels and your toes are stretched. Hold for 30 seconds. Bring these exercises into your daily routine to release the tension that builds when you sit. And of course, this is just the beginning — use the improvements in the way you feel as motivation to get up and move more throughout your day!
play. In “What the Constitution Means to Me,” playwright and actor Heidi Schreck recounts her experience of debating the Constitution in American Legion halls all over the U.S. In the largely autobiographical play, theatergoers get to see the experience through the eyes of 15-year-old Heidi (played by Schreck in the original production) as she gives her speech and talks about the Constitution. At other times, viewers see the grown-up Schreck reflect on the evolution of the Constitution’s meaning over the years and how her debate experiences shaped her understanding of what it means to live under the rules of this governing document. For Heidi Schreck, as well as for hundreds of other debaters, developing a close relationship with the Constitution helped pay her way through college and gave her a better understanding of the principles our country was built on. This month is a great time to take a look at the document that shaped our country’s past and continues to shape its future.
For one of those winners, in addition to helping pay her way through college, the debate experience also provided fodder for a Broadway
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