During the first year of its three-year existence, the Bicentennial Commission began to fulfill its mission, as defined by its chairman, to provide "a history and civics lesson for all of us." The Commission has decided to focus primarily on the educational potentialities of commemoration and to foster a firm understanding and appreciation of America's constitutional heritage and priceless freedoms. The Commission is cosponsoring two national writing competitions for high school and law school students, and has established an Educational Programs Registry to provide a short summary of Constitution-related programs. The National Archives has developed a supplemental teaching unit for secondary school students which contains 40 documents from the National Archives collection to aid in the educational effort of the Commission. In its role of encouraging and coordinating activities, the Commission has worked through private and public entities to reach out to U.S. citizens to create greater understanding of the accomplishments of the Founders, the nature of the system of governance they established, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. (SM)