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TEMECULA, Calif. — Dave and Pam Barret spent the better part of a year plopping Post-It Notes on their bedroom wall as the multi-colored squares came to symbolize their great passion and love.
No, the Barrets are not newlyweds—far from it. Married 33 years, they are the parents of five college-educated children. Although still in love and passionate about each other, the Post-Its represented another great infatuation: their affection for the U.S. Constitution.
The couple, both educators, used the popular office supply to help cultivate questions and answers for “Constitution Quest,” their new board game.
“Literacy has always been our passion,” said Pam Barret, a former National Right to Read Foundation Teacher of the Year who is now a teacher-training consultant. “It’s now spilling over to constitutional literacy.
“We’ve always created games to help our students learn. Games are engaging.”
The homemade games proved to be especially helpful to her husband Dave, who is a high school special education teacher.
“It’s amazing how much people don’t understand,” she said about one of America’s most defining documents. “It’s the most precious document because it preserves our heritage in this nation.”
Her assessment appeared to be backed up by the January 2011 results of the annual Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s civics test. The test randomly surveys more than 30,000 Americans, most of them college educated. The survey also included 165 respondents who indicated they had been “successfully elected to government office at least once in their life.”
The survey project, launched six years ago, asks 33 basic civics questions—10 related to the U.S. Constitution—and includes some culled from the national Citizenship Exam.
The 2011 survey showed that the average score on the test was just 49 percent, while the elected officials fared even worse with an average score of 44 percent.
Among some of the findings were:
• Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.
• Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war—54 percent of the general public knows that.
• Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase “wall of separation” appears in Thomas Jefferson’s letters—not in the U.S. Constitution—compared with 19 percent of the general public.
Results of the 2012 survey are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Educator apathy
Barret said that while elected officials fared poorly on the survey, she said some teachers also have a lackadaisical approach when it comes to the U.S. Constitution. She said on some campuses the document is ignored, even on Sept. 17, Constitution Day.
“It’s disheartening that there are some teachers who don’t have a passion for the Constitution,” she said.
So, as they have in the past, the couple decided to create a board-based solution. They were assisted by their oldest son, Joel.
“It seemed natural,” she said. “We knew we were going to create games in our retirement, we just did it sooner.”
So two years ago, they started formulating the questions.
“We wrote questions on colored sticky notes all over our bedroom wall,” she said. “Kids may not sit down and read or study the Constitution, but they will play a game.”
After developing 223 game cards, the couple then sketched out the game board that included corner images highlighting the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House, U.S. Congress and Independence Hall. They handed off the sketches to a graphic designer with instructions to create a package that boasted the richness of the parchment era.
“We wanted it to reflect the classic look of the document,” she said.
In keeping with the authenticity of the 18th century, the game’s play pieces feature 10 of the 39 signers of the Constitution.
“Instead of a star or a shoe, we have a picture of one of the document’s signers,” Barret said. “Hopefully this will encourage players to learn more about these individuals and how much they sacrificed.”
The game, she added, includes an element of chance with multiple choice so novices can play.
“The game is really the basis (of) the actual Constitution,” she said.
To add another dimension to the game, the Barrets included what they call “distracter cards.”
“Then there can be debates on how people feel about the issues but not before you know the correct answers,” she said. “They don’t know the text. We feel we have made the text accessible in a fun and engaging way. Then people are digging deeper.”
Good reviews
By December 2010, the couple was field testing the game with Christian families.
“They loved it,” she said. “They gave us their input. We took it to heart and made a few changes.”
In April the game was shrink wrapped and ready for retail.
The original market for the game was homeschool families looking for ways to incorporate civics into their lessons. Since then other markets have emerged, including grandparents, numerous chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and immigrants preparing to take their citizenship exam. Three presidential libraries—The James Madison Research Library and Information Center, the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library—carry the game in their stores. It is also available on the online store of Christian Freedom International. It’s been featured on numerous blogs and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
Heralding heritage
Barret said she believes the game provides a vital educational opportunity for Americans, especially Christians who are losing more and more of their religious freedoms as atheists and others push to stymie the public expression of faith.
“You can see what is happening now and the influence they have on the culture,” she said. “We feel our game is a wonderful place to start.”
A social studies department at one school has purchased numerous copies so that entire classrooms can play at the same time, and one student credited the game with helping her to pass her AP government exam.
“Kids were asking her how she knew so much about the government,” Barret said.
The game retails on their website for $49.95, which reflects the Barrets’ decision to have the game printed and produced in the United States. Local photographers and printers manufactured most of the game’s elements.
“If a family of four goes out to dinner, they can easily blow $50,” she said.
Even now they are doing the groundwork for a second printing.
“We are excited,” she said. “If you think that a year ago we were field testing it and 1,400 games are now out there, for us, it is quite amazing. We are just a mom and pop. We took an idea and decided to run with it on that entrepreneurial stage and just go with it.”
“We are convinced if we lose our constitutional literacy we are in danger of losing the Republic as we know it. It’s going to be a thing of the past, and it’s going to be because of ignorance.”
For more information on the game, visit www.constitutionquest.com.
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