In the Marketplace: How One Family Business Is Changing America With Constitutional Passion

Editor's note: This article was written by Colin Balfe, director of The Marketplace by TheBlaze, and is part of an ad hoc series highlighting businesses in TheBlaze's eCommerce channel.

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Not everyone in America grows up learning the Constitution. Whether caused by growing immigration or declining education, constitutional literacy is at an all-time low. Despite the opposition, one family has refused to allow these trends to dictate the nation’s future.

Joel, David and Pam Barret (left to right in photo below) are like many Americans who have discovered the widening gap between societal norms and the values America's Founding Fathers fought to establish, and they’re doing something about it. And since today is Constitution Day, it’s a great time to celebrate our freedoms and study the principles from the founding document of America.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” Ronald Reagan once said. “We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.”

The Barrets take this quote seriously, and they understand that America’s freedom stems from the Constitution. Many Americans don’t even know what the Constitution is, let alone what’s in it. This leaves little hope for the next generation’s ability to perpetuate the principles of the Constitution in tomorrow’s America.

For the Barret family, the Constitution isn’t just some old dusty document that’s taught about once in a dry middle school social studies class.

So what did they do? Understanding the power inherent in the phrase, “We the People,” they did not underestimate their own ability to make a difference in their country. As a family of teachers, the Barrets developed a board game to teach the principles of the Constitution. The game, The Constitution Quest, incorporates research-based learning principles to make it engaging and fun for everyone, whether they’re a Constitution expert or not.

From the artistic design of the game board, to the element of chance, to the abstract concepts of the Constitution made simple, this game allows the genius of the Constitution to be accessible to everyone. The Constitution Quest joined The Marketplace by TheBlaze in 2012, hoping to reach a greater audience and increase exposure and Constitutional Literacy across America. The goal of The Marketplace by TheBlaze is to assemble the world’s finest collection of unique small businesses.

“We're thrilled at the national exposure and reach the Marketplace has immediately provided us," Pam Barret said. "The Marketplace has proved the naysayers wrong: you don't have to make your product in China, compromise on quality, dumb-down your content or sell out your principles to be successful."

And so far, the impact has been tremendous. Barret emphasized, “We hear all the time from people who tell us Constitution Quest helped them ace the AP US Government Exam, pass their US Citizenship test and brought their family together for precious moments around the dinner table. We feel so tremendously blessed that The Marketplace has helped us make that happen.”

David, Pam and Joel Barret have quit standing idly by watching their country drift away from its founding values. By creating The Constitution Quest, they are bringing the Constitution to life for Americans and elevating constitutional literacy in this country, thereby preserving this Republic, “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”