Hood enjoys trip of a lifetime

Hood and his mother Sherry Hendrix pose in front of the Liberty Bell.

Dustin Hood, a 16 year old sophomore at Marked Tree High School, isn't just the average teen. His ambitions paid off this Spring when he was one of only 30 students nation wide selected to participate in the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution.

In an essay, Hood told project organizers why he would be the ideal candidate for the project as well as what he hoped to learn. He also submitted an article he wrote for the Tri-City Tribune called "GI Recollections."

Hood was thrilled to learn he was one of the lucky students selected and the only one from Arkansas to attend the event held in Philadelphia March 7-9 at the National Constitution Center .

According to the project's website, the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution is an annual event hosted by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and funded by the Annenberg Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Its mission is to help both professional journalists and students who aim to be professional journalists understand constitutional issues more deeply. It is hoped that through that discovery, the Project participants and, in turn, those who are or will be touched by their work, will see that the constitutional discussion is not limited to the domain of the court system, academic exchange, and the introductory experience of high school civics classes. Instead, constitutionalism reaches into the fabric of daily life.

The Project is named for Peter Jennings, the late, long-time anchor and editor of ABC News "World News Tonight," who was a friend of the National Constitution Center and who, in what would be the last years of his life, developed a deep fascination for the American founding document. It was that fascination which eventually led Jennings, a Canadian native, to become a citizen of the United States at the age of 65.

Dustin Hood, 16, poses with Kayce Jennings, widow of Peter Jennings. Hood met the late anchorman's wife as one of only 30 students nation wide selected to participate in the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution.

Before he was struck ill, part of the mission that Peter crafted for himself was to bring the kind of constitutional conversation to his viewers and readers with the enthusiasm he felt for the historic human achievement represented by the American Constitution. It is to that unfinished mission that the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution is dedicated.

"The experience is something that I will never forget," Hood said. "It was really an eye-opener to how the Constitution affects us every single day. I did a survey around the school where over 85% of students surveyed said that they take the Constitution and the rights it guarantees for granted."

Hood and other rising journalist participated in several case groups discussing Supreme Court cases. Hood participated in one case studying whether or not a mentally retarded person deserves the death penalty. The case study's facilitator was John Woo, a professor at the University of California.

In addition to learning, Hood also got to meet many influential people including Jane Eisner, vice president of the National Constitution Center; Mark Bowden, author of "Black Hawk Down;'" Todd Brewster, co-authored with Peter Jennings of "In Search of America," Kayce Jennings, Peter Jennings widow; Judith Kaye, State of New York Chief Judge; Lynn Sherr, 20/20 journalist and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Hood said he didn't have a lot of time for tourism, but he and his mom Sherry Hendrix did get to see the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house and her grave, Benjamin Franklin's grave and Independence Hall.

Best of all, the trip was an all expense paid trip with the exception of air travel.

It only takes one short conversation with Hood to realize he came back a motivated young man. He said he wanted to plan events at his school to raise awareness of the constitution.

"I'd like to get some speakers to come talk to the students and have the same effect ast they did on me," Hood said.