High school students from across the state will have a chance to chat with two Missouri Supreme Court judges next month in recognition of Constitution Day.

The Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri Bar will broadcast a statewide civics lesson on Sept. 18, the day after the federal holiday. Lawmakers created Constitution Day in 2004 and required school districts that receive federal funding to teach the Constitution on Sept. 17.

During the live broadcast, panel members will discuss the Constitution as it relates to the war on terrorism, religion in school and drug dogs and testing in schools - all topics chosen by students. Panel members will include Missouri Supreme Court Judges Mary Rhodes Russell and William Ray Price, as well as constitution expert Michael Middleton, a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

All schools can participate. Home-school students in ninth- through 12th grades with high-speed Internet connections also are welcome to log in to the broadcast. Students will have a chance to e-mail questions to the panel during the 50-minute broadcast, which airs at 9 a.m. and again at 1 p.m.

Millie Aulbur, director of law-related education for the Missouri Bar, encouraged schools to take advantage of the free broadcast to meet the federal constitution mandate.

"It’s a unique opportunity for students to get to interact with Missouri Supreme Court judges, and it’s being done in a medium that students like, the Internet," she said.

Few students would have the chance to talk to the judges without this type of technology, school boards association spokesman Brent Ghan said.

Signing up for the program will be one option for local teachers, said Cheryl Cozette, assistant superintendent of curriculum for Columbia Public Schools. Last year, on the first Constitution Day, the district provided Columbia teachers a list of books, Web sites and other resources they could use to meet the federal requirement. Cozette isn’t sure yet whether any Columbia classrooms will participate in the broadcast.

The program will air over the school boards association’s Education Solutions Global Network, the only school board association-based Internet network in the nation. The Sept. 18 broadcast will be the second time MSBA has used the network for student education. The first was in March, when MSBA aired a program in partnership with the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield. About 40 to 50 school districts, including ones in Alaska and Mexico, participated, Ghan said.

The association and the Missouri Bar teamed up last year to present the series "Checks and Balances," which discussed the three branches of government. A dozen districts participated, and this year the groups hope to expand that program.

MSBA wants more groups to take advantage of the network to offer other types of school programming.

"We are definitely looking for partners," Ghan said. "The Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield was thrilled with the program."

More information about ESGN can be found at www.esgn.tv. Schools can sign up for the Sept. 18 broadcast through the Missouri Bar Web site, www.mobar.org. The deadline to register is Sept. 11.