Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) is celebrating a second consecutive year of
student success in the Know Your Constitution Program, with two students selected
as finalists in the statewide competition sponsored by the Iowa State Bar Association
Young Lawyers Division.
The 2025 finalists from Clinton Community College are Donavan Cook and Amelia Reicks. Reicks was also named a finalist in 2024, making
her recognition this year a notable repeat achievement.
The Know Your Constitution Program is a long-standing educational initiative that has promoted civic engagement and
constitutional literacy for more than 35 years. The program challenges students through
an open-book quiz and essay focused on the U.S. Constitution, encouraging thoughtful
analysis of the document that serves as the foundation of American democracy and the
rule of law.
The Clinton campus hosts an annual Constitution Day event to promote civic engagement
and constitutional awareness. Through that event, Mike Wolf, Clinton County attorney,
introduced faculty member Shawn Hamerlinck and registrar Mardell Mommsen to the Know
Your Constitution Program, leading to the campus’s involvement and continued student
success.
As part of the program, the top 100 student finalists and their teachers will be honored
during an educational seminar and luncheon on Jan. 23. The Clinton finalists will
attend the event, where winners will be selected through a random drawing to receive
either a scholarship or an educational travel prize.
The Know Your Constitution Program is supported by the ISBA Foundation, the Iowa Supreme
Court Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) Program, and the American Bar Association
Young Lawyers Division. The program is open to educators and students across Iowa
and is designed to strengthen constitutional knowledge, civic engagement and critical
thinking skills.
