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Ellen Holliday/WRKF Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden with 4th and 5th grade Dufrocq student delegates at the constitutional ratification ceremony

But for the students at Dufrocq Elementary, that's all starting to change. They are turning their school into a miniature city-state, with its own currency, job market, products, laws, governmental bodies, and constitution, including a preamble.

"We the citizens of Crawfish Bayou, in order to form a more peaceful, mannerly, and disciplined school, create fair and equal...respectful treatment, provide a peaceful academic environment...."

A select group of fourth and fifth graders is writing the school constitution, with the guidance of 5th grade teacher Grant Shriner. They have a look of determination that seems older than their years as they sit quietly behind rows of desks. They fall into focused silence as Kentrell Williams calls the meeting to order.

"I enter a motion to open the meeting. Representative Green?"

"I move that we open the meeting."

"Is there any seconds? Representative Felders?"

"I second that motion."

"Raise your right...all in favor, raise your right hand. The meeting is open."

Dufrocq now operates as a MicroSociety. The educational concept has been around for decades. But it's still not very well known. Dufrocq is the first school in South Louisiana to implement the program.

They call their community Crawfish Bayou.

The students voted at the beginning of the school year to make their society a democracy. Monarchy was the other option, but that idea didn't quite catch on.

And just how many students did vote for monarchy?

"May have been like 10 percent. It was an overwhelming vote for democracy."

Honey East is the coordinator of the MicroSociety program at Dufrocq. She describes how one teacher used cupcakes to demonstrate the nature of a monarchy.

"There were the royals, and there were the peons, so to speak. Well, they brought in cupcakes. The royals got the real fancy, gourmet cupcakes, and the other children did not, and it really hit home. They completely understood about a monarchy then, and not having a voice."

Having a voice, and a choice, is extremely important in MicroSociety, she says. And in Crawfish Bayou, the students get plenty of both.

Students get to choose their own small business ventures, for example. One group of students is starting a photo studio. Another group is starting a company to sell hand-made jewelry. Kids will be paid in Crawfish Cash, their own form of currency. They can spend that money on the products and services that come out of the other kids' businesses.

The kids write their own resumes, interview for jobs, run for office, earn a salary, pay taxes. The students get a little taste of what it means to have the rights and responsibilities of an adult.

Students file into the auditorium for the kick-off ceremony to ratify the constitution and to swear in students and staff as citizens. The room buzzes with anticipation. Handmade white paper flags with the Crawfish Bayou logo on them rustle as kids vigorously wave them. Prominent members of Baton Rouge society like Judge Lisa White and Mayor-President Kip Holden are on hand to make this MicroSociety official.

"It's quite fascinating to be a part of this great citizenship experience shown by the students at Dufrocq. Obviously it starts at a young age, but we have young people laying a foundation to become responsible citizens, and I'm glad to be a part of it. At least they didn't make me mayor today, so I get a break."

But the student delegates WERE excited about their leadership roles in this new society.

5th Grade student Melanie Felder:

"My favorite part of the ceremony was when we got sworn in as delegates."

EH "Was that exciting?"

MF "Was it? Whoo! Whoo!"

EH This level of excitement and enthusiasm will inevitably fade after the ceremony. But a MicroSociety is designed to revive itself. Every year the students will vote for a new batch of kids to fill the three branches of government; the Crawfish Congress will make laws, and students will start businesses. Every three years the new student body will get its own voice, writing a new constitution and voting all over to choose its own form of government.

Just like the larger society, this MicroSociety will grow and change along with its population. And students like these kindergarteners will have shaped their society from the very beginning.

[Kindergarteners sing the Crawfish Bayou anthem.]

"Crawfish Bayou our nation..."