We the People team earns second at state: Eighth-grade civics students place second behind Fishers for third year

0

“Winning is easy,” We the People teacher Michael Potts said to a group of somber-faced eighth-grade students one day after they placed second at the state competition.

“This is the hard part. It’s hard for me to look at all of you and see your sad faces. It’s hard for you to sit here, feeling bad.”

Even though they may not be able to grasp it at this time, Potts said the eighth-grade students are winners.

“I hope someday, someday soon, you will realize how much you have won. Not only yesterday, but how much you’ve won through this class and through efforts you’ve put forth your entire lives,” he said to his students.

“You wouldn’t be in this class if you did not do the right things your whole life. You worked hard to get where you are.”

For the third year in a row, Brown County finished second in the state We the People competition behind Fishers Junior High School.

The We the People program teaches students about civic competence and responsibilities. After a semester of study about American history and constitutional issues, including current events and applicable court cases, students testify in mock congressional hearings before panels of professional judges. The contest is sponsored by the Indiana Bar Foundation.

In the past nine years, Brown County High School has won six We the People state championships, two national runner-up titles and two national championships.

“You know what yesterday was? It was a middle school civics competition. It was big. You worked real hard for it. It’s big for me, it’s big for you. Is it big to everybody? Is it? No, it’s big to us, wasn’t it? It was really big to us…But what you did yesterday doesn’t define you,” Potts said.

“You should not be afraid to try.”

Potts told his students to “get back on the treadmill” before reading a quote from actor Will Smith.

“I will not be outworked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s that simple,” a part of the quote reads.

That’s why the Brown County team has been successful in winning We the People competitions: They outwork the competition, Potts said.

Potts said he wanted to put the competition in perspective for his students including that the Fishers We the People teacher had 80 students to pick from for his team. That team also had three additional teachers helping them prepare for competition and the students have a study hall together at the end of the day.

“I’m not making excuses as to why you didn’t get first. I’m pointing out to you that schools like that have a huge advantage. The fact every year we either beat them or come this close says a ton about you and this program, about how much we worked to close that gap. You should be proud of that,” he said.

Potts said the junior high school had considered having a study hall for the We the People students, but they wanted to avoid that because they didn’t want to limit the students’ ability to take different electives.

“He’s (Fishers teacher) picking 80 kids who will live and breathe We the People. I’m taking 20 kids who are going to give part of their time to We the People and the other part of their time to whatever else they are in. That’s cool. I like that. But it’s hard to compete at that level,” Potts said.

Potts and Principal Brian Garman are discussing getting unit advisers for next year’s team, like retired judges and lawyers.

“I am only one person and I only have so much time. We could have these kids go off with a unit adviser one day a week and focus for an entire period,” he said.

Potts said to his class that another teacher who attended the competition reported seeing a mother and her daughter from another school leaving the competition who was sad her school didn’t take home a unit award.

“There were a ton of kids there yesterday who worked their butts off. You know what that is like to work really hard. They worked as hard as they could possibly work and didn’t go home with even a unit award. Look behind you, look on my desk (at the trophy). That’s not the one you wanted, but it’s pretty darn impressive. It’s pretty big,” he said.

Potts said the team did “great” at the competition, especially with being down one team member who ended up being admitted to the hospital and was unable to attend.

Garman also spoke to the class.

“I thought you did an amazing job yesterday. I would echo what a lot of the judges said, which is that you guys have learned more in a very short period of time about this country and our politics and our government structure than most people know,” he said.

“Take that with you, feel good about that and also go out and encourage other people to become involved and to participate.”

Brown County Intermediate School Principal Trent Austin stopped by the class to talk with the students.

“You’re a special group. I’m very proud of you for what you did yesterday,” he said.

“You guys are very fortunate, so fortunate to have a mentor, a teacher in Mr. Potts…He’s a fantastic teacher. He’s a fantastic mentor. He’s a fantastic person in general. He’s teaching you guys not just about the Constitution. He’s teaching you about how to be a better person.”

A fifth-grade We the People program is beginning at the intermediate school and Austin stopped by to ask the eighth-graders to consider being mentors to that team. He said 22 fifth-grade students had signed up for the team, which will compete next semester in a state competition.

“I think that what you can bring as a peer mentor is probably greater than anything the adults can give to these kids,” he said.

“You’re part of that (We the People) family now, you’re part of that group, now I’m asking you to help the next generation.”

‘Part of a family’

We the People student Olivia Tincher said being in the class makes her a winner because of the knowledge she has gained.

“To me it was going back to normal social studies and not being as immersed as we had been in this class. That’s what I was going to miss and being part of a team. Not so much the ‘We won, you lost,’” she said.

The class will now follow an advanced social studies curriculum.

Tincher said that when Potts went over to congratulate the Fishers team she went with him.

“They all looked shocked and they were so blissfully happy,” she said of the Fishers team.

“I just realized they are people too and that could have been us. We would have been in the exact same place as them. I went up to a couple of them and said ‘Hey, win one for us Hoosiers, OK?’”

Garrett Braden said he had fun at the competition.

“But after we got our award and everything, just the whole time, I could only think of what my basketball coach kept telling us ‘If we settle for second place, if we settle for good enough then we shouldn’t be doing the sport.’ I just felt like since we didn’t win there was something that we didn’t do, so I felt like we could have done better,” he said.

But after listening to Potts, Braden said he felt like his team did win.

“We definitely outworked them (Fishers). Definitely. No doubt about it. I am not going to go as far as to say we should have won, but we definitely deserved it,” he said.

Braden wants to be a mechanical engineer and decided to try out for We the People because it was the most advanced social studies class at the junior high school.

“I know that I have to get really good grades to be a mechanical engineer, so I always try to pick the best classes,” he said.

“My dad, every morning he takes me to school and we listen to the news, and taking this class got me so much more interested in that because it would bring me up to date on current events and things that are happening…It’s made not just my experience in the class better, but my experience outside of school better.”

Tincher said she did not really understand how the government worked before taking this class.

“I heard from a lot of people you get a bunch of skills from it. I was unsure about social studies classes and if I was going to go in an honors class I wanted it to be this one,” she said.

Tincher said that for any student considering taking We the People, the class is not about winning competitions.

“For me it was less about the competition and more about the team. More about being part of a team, being part of a family,” she said.

That’s what Potts told his students told the end of the class period and before they went out to face the lunch crowd.

“Once you leave here, you’re part of the family. Nothing brightens my day more than to see We the People kids come back,” he said.

“Years from now, 30 years from now, if I see you on the corner I’m going to be really happy. You know what I am going to do 30 years from now if I see you? I’m still going to hold you to the same high standards I hold you to today…When I told you I loved you I meant it. You’re the best part of my day besides my family, my kids and my wife, you’re the best part of my day.”

He told the students that their fellow classmates may make negative comments about their second place win, but they don’t know what they have really done to prepare for the competitions.

“Wipe your tears away, but your heads up and know you’ve done something really, really cool. Do not worry about what you hear from other people,” he said.

He encouraged the students to think about the good that came from being a part of the program.

“Let’s focus on the fact that I heard lots of judges yesterday when they shook your hand go ‘Oh, good handshake,’” he said.

“You know what’s going to get your farther? Handshakes. Eye contact. The ability to talk to people. The ability to have a civil discourse. That will get you farther than any of the stuff you learned in this class…This class is more than just constitutional law. This class is about life skills that will take you to the heights you want to go.”

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”We the People units” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Unit 1: What were the Founders’ basic ideas about government?

Aidan Schilling, Christopher Grimes, Olivia Tincher

Unit 2: What shaped the Founders’ thinking about government?

Naje Bedja, Alyson Pennington, Jade Hoffmeister

Unit 3: What happened at the Philadelphia Convention?

Milly Patrick, Katie Tipton, Savannah Oden

Unit 4: How was the Constitution used to establish our government?

Ethan Speice, Chase Austin, Rafe Silbaugh, Garrett Braden

Unit 5: How does the Constitution protect our basic rights?

Elizabeth Roush, Londyn Koester, Hadley Gradolf, Abigail Watson

Unit 6: What are the responsibilities of citizens?

Joseph Denison, Bradley Arndt, Cole Bowman

[sc:pullout-text-end]

No posts to display