Two teams take top spots at “We the People” state contest
Fishers Junior High School won this year’s Indiana Bar Foundation Middle School We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution state championship.
Fall Creek Junior High School from Fishers finished second and Forest Ridge Academy from Schererville finished third in the annual competition held this week at the Historic Union Station and Crowne Plaza Downtown.
Fall Creek Jr. High School placed second in the competition. (Photo provided)
Unit Awards were given to these schools:
- Unit One: St. Richard’s Episcopal School, Indianapolis
- Unit Two: Castle South Middle School, Newburgh
- Unit Three: Woodside Middle School, Fort Wayne
- Unit Four: Helfrich Park STEM Academy, Class A, Evansville
- Unit Five: St. Malachy Catholic School, Brownsburg
- Unit Six: Carroll Middle School, Culbertson, Fort Wayne
The awards ceremony keynote speaker was Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner.
“The Indiana Bar Foundation cannot be praised enough. The Bar Foundation is a lot of the reason our state has made a high level of progress,” Dr. Jenner said to a standing-room-only gathering in the Grand Hall of the Historic Union Station.
The Foundation administers the We the People program for Indiana.
“Congratulations to the state champions and to all 350 students participating in the finals,” Foundation President & CEO Charles Dunlap said. “The Foundation is thankful to teachers, administrators, parents, school communities, volunteer judges, and those whose financial support allows the Foundation to provide We the People to more than 10,000 Indiana students annually.”
The We the People competition consists of simulated congressional hearings. Students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles through presenting their views on a specific topic and then defending their positions by answering questions from a panel of judges.