For the eighth year in a row, Brown County Junior High School We the People students are competing for a state championship in hopes of earning a spot on the national stage.
Fifteen Indiana middle schools are signed up for the We the People civics competition in Indianapolis on Dec. 12. Brown County’s team is coached by social studies teacher Michael Potts.
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 state contest is sponsored by the Indiana Bar Foundation.
The competitive We the People program at BCJHS began in the late 1990s under former social studies teacher Tim Robison.
If this year’s team wins, it will be the seventh time the school has won a state championship. Last year’s team earned second place at state.
A state win also would mean that they’ll move on to the national competition in Washington, D.C., this spring.
So far, BCJHS has six state championships, two national runner-up titles and two national championships on its resume.
Fishers Junior High School took the state title last year. This year, a second middle school from Fishers, Fall Creek Junior High, will join the state competition, along with newcomer Hobart Middle School.
BCJHS students must try out to be on the civics team. Last year, Potts had about 30 students apply; 20 got in. Twenty was also the limit for this year’s class.
The We the People educational model has shown that students build leadership, teamwork, public speaking, research and critical thinking skills while studying and preparing their testimonies, the Indiana Bar Foundation reports.
Research has shown that these students are also more likely to vote, use facts to support opinions and tolerate opposing opinions, the foundation said.
News of how the students did will be posted at bcdemocrat.com on Dec. 12 and a story will appear in the Dec. 20 newspaper.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”We the People units” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Unit 1: What were the Founders’ basic ideas about government?
Austen Deckard, David Parry, Elijah Sicthing, Kody Walsh
Unit 2: What shaped the Founders’ thinking about government?
River Lacy-Connell, Rhett Silbaugh, Collin Trapp, Aiden Vaught
Unit 3: What happened at the Philadelphia Convention?
Abigail Bowman, Aden Rice, Samantha Smith
Unit 4: How was the Constitution used to establish our government?
Ashlyn Beck, Molly Speaks, Declyn Wilkerson
Unit 5: How does the Constitution protect our basic rights?
Abigayle Buckner, Marie Fields, Abigail Padgett
Unit 6: What are the responsibilities of citizens?
Kelli Branson, Tristen Shields, Kaitlyn Waltz
[sc:pullout-text-end]
