We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

rdf:langString We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

rdf:langString We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is a yearly competition involving high school students from throughout the United States. The national finals simulates a congressional hearing and is held at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia, and in congressional hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. Each class is divided into six units, each composed of three to six students. Each unit focuses on a particular area of Constitutional interest - from the philosophical underpinnings and Constitutional Convention to the Bill of Rights and modern day implications. Students are judged on criteria such as their understanding, reasoning, responsiveness, and use of constitutional applications. In preparation for the national finals, classes learn about government and study the Constitution and Bill of Rights. In each class the six unit groups prepare four-minute opening statements in response to three congressional hearing questions. Afterwards, judges ask students follow-up questions to test the depth of their knowledge on the topic in a six-minute question and answer period. During the national finals over 1,200 students from 56 classes testify before a total of 72 judges, in panels of three. The judges are history, political science, law, and education professors, members of the legal community, and others with a knowledge of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. To qualify for the national finals, a class must win its state championship or qualify as a "wild card" class. The national finals takes place over three days, with the top twelve classes from the first two days advancing to the final round of competition in hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. At the national finals, each unit testifies on two hearing questions during the first two days of competition. The classes with the twelve highest combined scores advance to the final round on the third day. The top twelve places are determined by combining the scores from the first two days and a weighted final round score. Each year nearly $2,000,000 is raised in communities throughout the United States to support the national finals. According to the Center for Civic Education, "Since the inception of the We the People program in 1987, more than 28 million students and 90 thousand educators have participated in the program and more than 30,000 students have participated in the national finals."