Constitutional Speaker Dr. Thomas Krannawitter Lectures in Front of a Large Crowd in Woodland Park

After operating successfully for almost an entire school year, the “no-politics” Merit Academy in Woodland Park celebrated accomplishing its first year despite many setbacks. After their first school year in existence, Merit’s staff decided to hold an event in their hometown, which sold all 150 tickets available.  

The school applied to be a charter school within the Woodland Park RE-2 district last year, but the application was denied by the school board. The Merit Academy team kept trying and they were able to open last fall as a contract school under the ER BOCES based out of Colorado Springs.

Before being in operation for a full school year, the Merit Academy was featured on Fox News twice. The first time, the school was featured for being a “no-politics” school. The second time was for the school being successful and growing in numbers before the completion of their first year.

Merit Academy Holds Special Community Event

On May 5, the Merit Academy hosted a  conversation event about the Declaration of Independence by guest speaker constitutional scholar and lecturer Dr. Thomas Krannawitter at the Edgewood Inn in Woodland Park to commemorate its first year as a school. The lecture was aimed at further educating parents and members of the community about the document and the philosophies behind it.

According to Merit Academy Board Member Jason Ledlie, the event is the start of a civic conversation series that the school plans to put on for the community possibly once every semester. “Part of the classical education that we will be offering to students sounds a lot like this,” Ledlie said. “So we also thought that it would be wonderful to offer some of this same philosophy to parents of students who are going to this school without having them in the classrooms eight hours a day. We thought that it would also be wonderful to offer events to the whole community.”

The event’s guest speaker, constitutional scholar and lecturer, Krannawitter (who will also host the second event next fall) has studied the philosophy of politics for 30 years and he holds four college degrees including a Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University. He has taught at a number of universities including the Colorado Christian University and Hillsdale College and has written several books.

Krannawitter said that it is vital to educate not only students but their parents as well. “I have realized over the years that parents, adult grown-ups tend not to know much about things like the Declaration of Independence,” he said. “What often happens when people send their kids to really good classical schools, parents send their kids there but the parents themselves are not able to engage, because the parents didn’t get that type of education. Then all of a sudden, the kids are coming home and wanting to have these conversations about the Greeks and the Romans and it’s going right over the parents’ heads.”

During the event, Krannawitter spoke about the Declaration of Independence for over two hours. The lecture focused on dissecting it and describing what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote it.

The Declaration of Independence Broken Down

Krannwitter started his presentation by explaining how the Declaration of Independence is still relevant. He explained how knowing what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote the country’s first legal document can create an understanding of how/why the country’s Constitutional Republic was founded and why it is worth fighting to keep.

He explained how the first organic law in the United States code is the Declaration of Independence that came before the Constitution and other “organic laws.” He said that in the United States code of all of the country’s laws there are four “organic” laws in volume one in the beginning of the book. Krannawitter explained that the first “organic” law in the codebook is the Declaration of Independence, the second is the Articles of Confederation, the third is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the fourth is the U.S. Constitution.

He then talked about how certain people want to transform the country, and he said that to decide whether to support their new ideas of change, people must know more about the Declaration of Independence and whether the original document is good and still valid.

“We have been reminded in the last couple of months that the world is a dangerous, dangerous place,” Krannawitter explained. “What if we were asked to defend our country? To fight for it, not just with words but actually fight for it violently? Should we do that? Should someone dare to attack this country should we fight to defend it? That depends on what we think of America.”

During his speech, Krannawitter broke down and explained in depth the words and meanings of the document. After over two hours, he hadn’t made it past the second paragraph.

Words Mean a Lot

One of his major points was the fact that the English language has changed over time. For example, he used John Quincy Adams’ close relationship with his wife Abigail to explain how the phrase “All men are created equal” meant all of humankind was created equal and wasn’t intended to exclude women.

He also explained what was meant by the language “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” Krannawitter broke down the phrase into detail describing how that terminology was meant to include people of all religions and the fact that even Atheists could agree with the basic premise.

Krannawitter is slated to return to Woodland Park to speak for more of the civic conversation series events. His next topic will have to do with the abolishing of slavery and how it was crucial to the country’s survival. 

The Maverick Observer is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our region. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.