Students will witness citizenship naturalization ceremony at Union Station in Indianapolis
The Indiana Bar Foundation will play host to 900 students representing 14 middle and 14 high schools in the annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution State Finals on Dec. 5 and 6 in Indianapolis. Teams qualified through regional competitions in Evansville, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Gary, and Plainfield.
Students prepare an opening statement and answer questions on government-related topics from a panel of judges. The competition allows students to demonstrate their knowledge, poise, and teamwork. State champions in the high school and middle school divisions earn the right to represent Indiana in the national competition.
Indiana middle school classes will compete Monday, Dec. 5, in historic Union Station and the Crowne Plaza. Two rounds of competition will be held. Fishers Junior High School is the defending state champion.
Highlighting the middle school state finals will be a Naturalization Ceremony scheduled for 12:45 p.m. in the Grand Hall of Union Station. Eighty individuals are expected to become U.S. citizens during the event. Judge James R. Sweeney II, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana and Indiana Bar Foundation Board Member, will serve as the presiding judge.
“We the People students learn about civics, government, and citizenship through their studies,” Foundation Director of Civic Education Tim Kalgreen said. “A naturalization ceremony is one of the ultimate acts of seeing civics, government, and citizenship come together in a meaningful way.”
Middle schools competing include:
- Brown County Middle School, Nashville
- Carroll Middle School (Team Culbertson), Fort Wayne
- Carroll Middle School (Team Smith), Fort Wayne
- Castle South Middle School, Newburgh
- Fall Creek Junior High School, Fishers
- Fishers Junior High School, Fishers
- Helfrich Park STEM Academy, Evansville
- Hobart Middle School, Hobart
- Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, Fort Wayne
- St. Malachy Catholic School, Brownsburg
- Sidener Academy, Indianapolis
- Union Township Middle School, Valparaiso
- Woodside Middle School, Fort Wayne
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, high school classes representing 14 Indiana high schools will compete at historic Union State and the Crowne Plaza. Fishers High School is the defending state champion. Competing schools include:
- Castle High School, Newburgh
- Evansville North High School, Evansville
- Fishers High School, Fishers
- Franklin Central High School, Indianapolis
- Hamilton Southeastern High School, Fishers
- Hobart High School, Hobart
- Homestead High School, Fort Wayne
- Jasper High School, Jasper
- New Palestine High School, New Palestine
- North Posey High School, Poseyville
- Plainfield High School (Team Hamilton), Plainfield
- Plainfield High School (Team Madison), Plainfield
- Randall T. Shepard Leadership and Law Academy, Evansville
- West Lafayette Junior / Senior High School, West Lafayette
* * *
In Indiana, We the People is administered by the Indiana Bar Foundation as part of its civic education program. More than 10,000 students are impacted through teachers attending the Foundation’s We the People Summer Institute and professional development opportunities, use of the We the People textbook, and through the annual competition.