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December 23, 2009
Bach Phan
AP government students participated in the We the People competition against other schools. Through this experience students go through governmental processes to further understand the brains behind the nation.
“You have to be able to think quickly on your feet,” senior Tara Darland said.
Third and fifth period AP government classes competed against each other for the spot in the next phase of competition. The judges came from different backgrounds, ranging from lawyers to teachers. The fifth period class beat the third period class by a margin of about 50 points. The next stage of the competition brought the students to a district-wide practice at Ohlone College for the regional competition in Santa Clara. If the fifth period class was successful, they would then advance to the state competition. Washington has reached eighth in state in previous years.
With six groups per class, one for each unit in the “We the People” textbook, students participated in the exam, which resembled a congressional hearing. It included a four-minute prepared response period in which students read three essays followed by a six-minute question and answer period.
“We were overwhelmed by the amount of information we had to retain,” senior Brittany Martinek said.
Knowing the material was an important part to the exam because students don’t know what questions to expect from the judges.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” senior Ryan Shively said.
Before coming to Washington, government teacher Elizabeth DeWitt made it to the national competition three times while teaching the We the People class in her home state Wyoming for 15 years. When she arrived here, the school was not participating in the We the People program. Many schools that participate in the program have separate classes that start much earlier than at Washington. She requested that there be a separate We the People class, but was not granted one. Irvington was the only other school in the district that took part in the program.
“It was a lot of work and speaking in front of the judges made me nervous, but the experience was memorable,” senior Shival Patel said.
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