Hill students enjoy school history with Constitution Day celebration

September 19, 2025

Hill Elementary School students turned Constitution Day into a time capsule this week when they copied a schoolwide celebration from an earlier era.
 
Hundreds of Hill students and supporters gathered in the multipurpose room for a special Constitution Day program. Many fifth graders shared historical insights about the school, which will turn 50 years old on Jan. 26, 1976. Scores of other students in kindergarten through fourth grade sang songs, read words from the Constitution and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
 
Everyone also signed their name to a new Constitution mural painted on one of the room’s walls. The Constitution canvas – which features a large drawing of the Nebraska State Capitol – resembles the school’s original mural that was signed by previous Hawks in 1987.
 
Fifth grader Levi told the audience he was proud to ink his spot in Hill’s history. Kindergarten students began penning their names on the walls in the early morning, and older grade levels filled in rectangle-shaped spaces in the following hours.
 
“Today, we were all able to sign the 50th anniversary spots under the capitol over there,” Levi said, pointing to the mural. “I’m excited to leave my name for students in another 20 years to see!”

 
Hill Principal Emily Wiebeck worked with teachers and staff members to plan the event. She spent the summer scouring the building’s storage areas for school memorabilia, which she said resulted in a “tower of totes” in her office. Among the items was a bulletin from the school’s first Constitution Day program on Sept. 17, 1987, which allowed current Hawks to replicate the celebration as closely as possible.
 
“The amount of pride that I felt being a part of Ruth Hill Elementary this summer was amazing,” Wiebeck told the crowd. “It’s unspeakable. I can’t describe it. But the best part of all is sharing it with all of you. It’s sharing it with our students and our staff, because I have seen their pride in Ruth Hill, which just makes me burst.”

 
Lincoln Board of Education member Marilyn Johnson-Farr and LPS Superintendent John Skretta both spoke on behalf of the school district. Skretta read a Constitution Day poem that listed how the document safeguards the rights of all Americans. The lyrics talked about how the Constitution was written, how it serves as a blueprint for American government and how it is designed to keep people safe and free.
 
“The Constitution gives us rights, things that all people have, just because they are alive and so that they may thrive,” Skretta said.
 
Johnson-Farr praised Hill staff members for using their educational talents to help both younger and older Hawks. She designed the speech to sound like a proclamation of thanks coming from current Hill students.
 
“Everyone is working together, providing for all 394 of us to ensure we are not only book-smart and safe, but also learning how important it is to respect one another, regardless of whether we look alike, think alike or learn the same way,” Johnson-Farr said. “We all matter.”

 
Former Hill teacher Terri Day encouraged students with her remarks. Day led first grade classes from 1976-2008 and influenced many Hawks throughout her 32 years. She is also the daughter of Lincoln artist and architect William Schlaebitz, who used student input to design Hill’s original Constitution mural.
 
Day said her father felt it was important to use his artistic abilities for the common good. She asked students to reflect on the individual talents that they have. She then invited them to consider using their gifts to help everyone they meet in the future.
 
“He loved to share that talent with other people, and that’s what I want you to be thinking about today,” Day said. “Some of you may have a talent now. Maybe you’re an artist or maybe you like to sing. There are lots of things that you’ll be able to do as you grow older. But what I’d like to have you remember is to share your talents that you have as you grow up with other people.”
 
The audience also enjoyed historical tidbits from fifth graders on stage. Janae and Billi talked about how LPS administrators began making plans for the school in 1971. They decided to name the new building after Ruth Hill, who was a Lincoln Board of Education member from 1946-63.
 
“Two years later, they broke ground and started building the school,” Janae said. “Then, three years after that, they opened the school with 400 children. That’s very close to how many students we have at Hill right now too!”
 
The construction process was in its final stages when the 1976-77 school year began. Students took classes at other buildings during the first semester before stepping into their brand-new classrooms for the first time.
 
“Students were at other schools all fall,” Billi said. “Then, when Hill opened, they moved to a new school with new people, new friends and new desks. Can you imagine moving to a new school halfway through your grade?”
 
Those efforts five decades ago have resulted in hundreds of happy Hawks since then. Clothes, cars and technology may have changed since Hill’s first moments, but Johnson-Farr said the school’s educational excellence has remained the same.
 
“I am so proud of you on this Constitution Day to shout from the rooftop that you are Hill Hawks, and you are somebody,” Johnson-Farr said.
 
Want to learn more about social studies concepts like Constitution Day at LPS? Visit home.lps.org/socialstudies to view the K-12 social studies curriculum and scan through a list of community resources.
 
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