The students in the Wheaton High School Law Class grew tired of King Nesin’s cruel and arbitrary rules.
It was time for revolution.
They banded together to demand better treatment.
They agitated for change.
They held a Constitutional Convention on September 22, 2022. All students in the class made speeches. They debated what should be the limits on King Nesin’s authority. They demanded student rights and representation. They reached consensus. They wanted a classroom of the students, by the students, for the students.
They drafted the class Constitution. (https://unitedknightsofdalewood.org/constitution/) It limits teacher power. It grants students rights. It creates a class government. They named their new nation the United Knights of Dalewood.
On October 6, 2022, the founders of the United Knights of Dalewood signed the Constititution. 23 students signed in favor. One student opposed. She was a King Nesin sympathizer.
But the new Constitution did not govern the Law Class yet. It needed to be ratified by the people. Not the people that wrote it and signed it. The people who would be bound by it. The students taking Law class at Wheaton High School in the Spring of 2023 would decide the fate of this fragile nation. If they did not ratify, King Nesin declared that he would remove the Constitution from its fancy frame and tear it up into little itty bitty pieces.
The Founders of the United Knights of Dalewood needed to convince the next semester’s classes to ratify. They wrote anonymous Federalist Papers that made persuasive arguments about why the United Knights of Dalewood Constitution should be ratified. (https://unitedknightsofdalewood.org/history/founding-the-ukd/federalist-papers/) One anonymous wag wrote an Anti-federalist paper arguing that it should NOT be ratified. Was it King Nesin himself? Or his sympathizer? History may never know the answer.
On February 9, 2023, the Spring semester Law classes ratified the Constitution. Students made speeches both in favor and against ratification. Ratification required a majority vote in each class period. The Period 1 Law class easily voted for ratification 16-1. It was a much closer vote in Period 3, which only voted for ratification 10-6. The U.K.D. might never have existed if just two Period 3 students had changed their votes!
The very next day the Spring 2023 Law classes also ratified the First Amendment to the new Constitution. On Feb 10, 2023, Amendment 1 passed by a vote of 17-6:
The first sentence of Article 3 Section 1 should be changed from “In the second week of every semester” to “At any time during the semester.” (https://unitedknightsofdalewood.org/constitution/amendments/)
The United Knights of Dalewood Constitution will now govern the Law Classes at Wheaton High School for as long as King Nesin teaches the class. The Rule of Law governs. But what will those laws be? The students will decide.