Trumbull We the People team places 8th in nation
TRUMBULL — Trumbull High School’s We the People team was recently named one of the top 10 teams in the nation at the 2023 national competition.
The 26 seniors from Katie Boland’s AP Government and ECE Constitutional Studies class made it to the final round, which featured the top ten teams. The class placed eighth out of 48 teams in the National We the People Final Competition held at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Va.
“These young scholars give me so much hope for the future of our nation,” Boland said. “Their ability to take part in discussions of controversial political issues and do so with poise and eloquence was amazing to watch.”
Trumbull High’s We the People program has won 27 school championships, and this was the 10th time the team has been in the final’s top ten.
The students were broken into six units.
“I was ecstatic,” student Hannah Adams said about the top 10 finish. “The competition was fierce this year, progressively getting more difficult to rank each year. Making Top 10 was such an incredible experience for us, and solidifying our place was even more gratifying.”
Victoria Orozco, another student who competed, said she was elated with the outcome.
“The fact that we placed eighth was just the icing on the cake of an already amazing weekend,” Orozco said.
Orozco, who admits
Trumbull High’s We the People Team once again earn high marks, placing eighth in the nation at the National We the People Final Competition held at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Va., the weekend of April 22.
longing to be an attorney since her freshman year, said this experience might have slightly altered her career goal.
“I now want to be a judge,” she said. “This experience has given me a deep understanding of what it means to be a judge and how their decisions impact the country.”
The students began their preparation at the start of the school year, testifying on constitutional issues in a simulated congressional hearing.
The competition, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, involved entire classes making presentations and answering questions on constitutional topics from judges around the country. The teams were judged not only on the content of their opening statement, but also their ability to answer followup questions from a panel of judges both with opinion and fact.
Trumbull High won the State Championship on Jan. 26 and was invited to the national event.
Besides doing research and collaboration, students also had the opportunity to practice in competition-like settings. Trumbull Academic Challenge for Excellence Foundation (ACE) led by liaison Kate Donahue, of Trumbull, organized multiple practice sessions for the team throughout the semester.
Student Kaitlyn Allen praised Boland and their coaches but most of all credited her teammates for their dedication and friendship during the season.
“The collective community we created really held everyone accountable, the friendships we had let us call each other out for flaws in our argument,” Adams added. “That friendship coupled with coaching from extremely impressive individuals
in law and constitutional studies helped push us to be better than we thought we could be.”
Allen said the coaches and experts edited our essays, talked them through complicated topics, and judged them during our evening practice sessions.
“We all worked together as a team to support one another,” Allen said. “We worked together within our units and collaborated with other units to become as knowledgeable and as prepared as possible. We wouldn’t be the team we are today without our coaches and without each other.”
Steven Michels and Jennifer McLaughlin, history professors at Sacred Heart University, Thomas Tesoro, vice president of human resources at Standard Motor Products, and Peter Sullivan, principal at Madison Middle School, judged the team’s dress rehearsal on April 18.
The team also received help from two Trumbull High School graduates and former We the People state champions. Andrew Gladstein, who graduated in 2002, invited the students to Schulte, Roth and Zabel law firm in New York City for a special practice session. Mark Ritacco, who graduated in 2003 and works at The National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C., helped with questions about the separation of powers and three branches of government.
Finally, Sujata GadkarWilcox, associate professor of legal studies at Quinnipiac University, provided additional research to the team and invited the students to the university for additional practice.
Allen said preparing for this competition was not an easy task. The first step was writing the fourminute opening statements that answered the questions put forth by the Center for Civics Education. The drafts were constantly edited and then memorized.
“We also did a huge amount of research to prepare for follow up questions,” Allen said. “We looked up Supreme Court cases, quotes from important historical figures, statistics, facts, and other pieces of evidence to support our claims in follow up. Every piece of information could be important because we never know what we’re going to be asked.”
Allen said this program is one of the main reasons she wants to become a civics educator. For Adams, this experience furthered her interest in international affairs and economics.
“I am so proud of my constitutional scholars,” Boland said. “They presented themselves with passion, substance, and confidence throughout the entire weekend. They worked tirelessly as a team all year long to achieve their goals and their hard work was evident in the results. One of the judges commended us our tablecloth with Trumbull Public School’s logo that read ‘Dedicated to Excellence’ and he said that we had lived up to that motto. I couldn’t agree more.”