Incline High School of Incline Village, Nevada, won the Western states regional award at the 25th Anniversary We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals. The We the People finals were held April 27-30, 2012, at George Mason University and in Washington, D.C.

Milton Hyams coaches the Incline High School class, whose members include Sam Canino, Michaela Castillo, Kyle Clouthier, Ryan Collins, Mitchell Comstock, Chloe Dodge, Jessica Floam, Mitchell Gehring, Chelsea Hollingsworth, Nick Iida, Nina Jolley, John Larson, Melissa Mossar, Patrick Murray, Justine Nelson, Tori O'Connor, Katelyn Offerdahl, Max Osborne, Lyonel Pfaender, Katiya Resney, Julia Severance, Nathan Shuey, Alexa Smith, Charlene Swick, Melanie Swick, Kelsey Tokunaga, and Jordan Wright.




Incline High School students won the Western states regional award in the 25th Annual We the People National Finals.

Tahoma High School of Covington, Washington, placed tenth overall in the 25th Anniversary We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National finals held April 27-April 30, 2012 at George Mason University and in Washington, D.C.

It was only the second time that a team from the state of Washington has advanced to the top ten.




Tahoma High School students placed tenth in the We the People National Finals, competing against 55 other classes from 47 states.

Portland's Lincoln High School placed first in the 25th Anniversary We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals on April 30.

The results were announced to an overflow crowd of about 1,400 students, teachers, parents, judges, and volunteers at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

During the three-day competition on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, students testified about constitutional topics before panels of judges. The first two days of the competition were held at George Mason University. The final round of competition on April 30 was held in congressional hearing rooms on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln were the highest scoring team among the 55 other competitors from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.



Lincoln High School students celebrate their win in Oregon's state We the People competion. Their victory propelled them to the We the People National Finals, were they took the national championship.

A recent Washington Post story showed how students in two We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution middle school classes gained a deeper understanding of our system of government as they prepared for Virginia’s middle school state championship.

A student from Alexandria’s Browne Academy said that before participating in the program she, “assumed the president could make laws at will.” 

“However, our government has a balanced system. All three branches [executive, legislative and judicial] have important roles and serve different purposes,” she said.

Participating in a simulated congressional hearing gave others greater confidence: “Practicing in front of the judges made me very nervous at first, but then it became easier,” said a student from Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington.


She added that We the People allowed her to feel empowered: “It made me feel like I could become a history major, even if I’m only in the eighth grade.”

You can read the full article  on the Washington Post’s website.


Photo: Stuart-Hobson Middle School eighth-graders review their We the People textbooks (photo by Ann Cameron Siegal, Washington Post).