"Give me liberty or give me death."

That saying was immortalized when Patrick Henry supposedly uttered them hundreds of years ago, but many children today have only a vague idea of what liberty means and what our liberties are.

Friday, Judge Fred Wellman, of Austin, visited Ellis Middle School to explain to the eighth-grade students what the three branches of the federal government are, how they work together and what rights we are given by the Constitution and its amendments.

He emphasized that while the activities of the federal government may seem to be taking place far away in Washington D.C., "what happens between the three branches affects you daily. It affects me daily, because each day I have to decide constitutional issues."

Ellis Middle School principal Jean McDermott said the program was courtesy of the Austin Noon Lions Club, who approached her with the idea of having Wellman speak.

"One of their concerns was they did not know the Constitution was being taught (in the Austin school district). It is in the eighth grade because they have a course on civics … so it's very timely for them," she said.

She said she hoped the presentation taught them "we have rights, but with our rights, we have responsibility. For instance, the first amendment gives us the right to free speech. Well, does that mean you can just go into a school and start swearing at everyone? No. They need to have their freedoms explained."

She added, "there's a lot of moral development going on in the kids right now and they question a lot of things. They need to have adults there who can give them moral guidance," which is something she believes Wellman was able to accomplish.

Dylan Rude, an eighth-grade student said Wellman's program "showed us how lucky we are to live in America with all the rights that we have."

"We're already doing stuff about government in our classes, but this lets us know how it works," he said. "It taught us about the amendments and how they can help us if we ever go to court."

Call Amanda L. Rohde at 434-2214 or e-mail her at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com