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Preamble To Constitution Takes Center Stage At Masterman School

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Students at Philadelphia's Masterman School joined in a nationwide Constitution Day event on Monday, reciting and discussing the Preamble to the Constitution.

"We the People of the United States..."

Masterman students at an assembly recited the 52 words of the Preamble, with the help of two special guests: One, Phillies right-handed pitcher Jerad Eickoff.

"I was a big history guy, and my brother's actually a history teacher," Eickoff said. "It's just something I felt a calling to."

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The other, former Governor Ed Rendell.

"As the Preamble says, this government and these laws are directed by 'We the People,'" Rendell said. "Not by a king, not by a sovereign, but by 'We the People.'"

Rendell told the kids that unless we participate in the governmental process, we're in danger of losing those rights.

Fifth graders also took turns describing their role as citizens in six words: One bringing an "Oooooh" from the crowd was "Citizen that respects even when disrespected."

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