Lycoming County Law Association celebrates annual Law Day with ‘Voices of Democracy’ ceremony

The Lycoming County Law Association presented its annual Law Day Ceremony Friday afternoon.

Each year the association receives entries from school students around the county centered around a topic highlighting the rule of law in a constitutional democracy.

This year's theme was Voices of Democracy.

"For nearly 250 years, Americans have expressed their political views and wishes by speaking their minds and voting in elections," literature for the event said.

"Each and every year, we get to see the best and the brightest students here in Lycoming County, and what they have to offer," District Judge and Law Day Chairman Christian Frey said in opening the ceremony. "I suspect and anticipate that each of you will be impressed today not only with the creativity, but also the substance of the entries that we received."

Lycoming County Commissioners Scott Metzger, Mark Sortman and Marc Mussina followed with a proclamation recounting the first ever law day, established in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"The United States was founded on the principles that voluntarily enhanced the rules of law, expands rather than limits the opportunity for freedom," Metzger read aloud.

This year's winners were broken up into three categories.

Winners for the art portion of the ceremony were Lila Butters and Tala Zaldivar, both of Loyalsock Middle School, Amelia Robbins, a homeschool student and Quentin Gallagher, of Schick Elementary; with the essay winners including Adeline and Abigail Koshy, both of St. John Neuman, Ethan Collins, of Loyalsock Middle School, and Lyla Robbins, a homeschool student.

Elias Rodriguez, of Montoursville High School, was the grand prize winner, receiving a check for $1,000, spearheaded by the Lycoming County District Attorney's Office and presented at the ceremony by District Attorney Tom Marino.

Near the close of the ceremony, several Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas judges congratulated the youngsters and offered remarks.

Judge William Carlucci welcomed the students to sign a copy of the U.S. Constitution that he keeps hanging in his office and applauded the work of educators in keeping civics classes alive in area schools.

"That is not as much emphasis as it once was. I think that's unfortunate. But the parents and faculty and administrators who are here today are here, at least in part, because they want to strengthen civics education among the students who are here. I want to congratulate them," he said.

Judge Ryan Tira spoke of how impressed he was with all the entries and took a moment to remind the audience why Eisenhower founded Law Day.

"While other parts of the world were showing demonstrations of might through military power, he, a former military general, wanted to show the world that we can live in peace and by order. And while our system is definitely not perfect, it has high principles that always have the right to be able to live by the same rules and have our voices be heard," the judge told the crowd.

"And for that system of work, everyone's voice has to be heard. Your projects really highlight that importance of our society and making sure they are heard, and that we make sure that we take steps until that happens," he said.

President Judge Nancy Butts echoed the sentiments of her colleagues, adding "every year the students present a unique perspective, something that I didn't have when I went to school."

"So when you think about the ages of the students and their insight and their take on the experiences that they see, whether they overhear it from their parents or it's a discussion topic in school, and then what's going on in the community, it really makes it new again for us," Butts said.

"Not only is this just our form of government, but it's in the way that we should be interacting with our fellow citizens, our community, our school, any organization that we work in," she said.

A reception was held following the ceremony.

All winning submissions can be viewed on the Lycoming Law Day Facebook page and on the association's website at www.lycolaw.org.