The Connection

Defying the stereotype of politically apathetic teenagers, Rachel Carson Middle School students won first place in the We the People National Invitational on May 2. Rachel Carson students competed against students from middle schools all over the country.

The We the People Competition, hosted by the Center for Civic Education, is organized similarly to a congressional hearing. The competition is divided into six units, based on the units of a textbook. Students must give four-minute opening speeches and then answer judges’ questions for another six minutes.

Coached by their civics teacher Cynthia Burgett, the team from Rachel Carson has been preparing for this competition since the school year began. Volunteers from around the area, such as Doug Landau whose children attended Rachel Carson Middle School, helped coach the team as well.

“In a day and age where most kids in eighth grade don’t know who their legislators are, what the Constitution means, or how our system of government works, you have a rare group of junior high school students who not only understand the Constitution backwards and forwards, understand how our government works, but how it got to be where it is and where it may be going,” Landau said.

Although the competition was based on the Constitution, discussion with the judges often centered on current national issues such as accessibility of voting to members of the working class, the role of religion in governance and Edward Snowden. Teammates were encouraged to disagree with one another and argue their case.

“Civil discourse – that’s something that I try to pride myself on as a teacher. You can disagree, but it doesn’t mean you have to be disagreeable,” Burgett said.

Although Burgett has been preparing her students since the start of the school year, she requires them to research and write their own speeches so that they are prepared to answer the judges’ questions and engage in discussion.

“We think of this document as 200 years old and irrelevant today, and by connecting – and that’s something the judges really appreciate, seeing the connections, that the kids understand the importance of the founding, the importance of this old document and how it sustains us today,” Burgett said.

While understanding the Constitution is important for the students to understand current events, these connections also help students learn to identify problems they may experience themselves.

“So they need to know that they can’t have a teacher indoctrinating them, and conversely – because I’ve known this to happen – teachers making negative comments about a religion,” Burgett said.

Although a structured competition with highly qualified judges may be a source of anxiety for many, eighth-grader Janice Li welcomed the discussion portion of the competition.

Li said: “I was nervous at first but then once you start talking and once you start getting into your Q&A session, the nerves start to go away, you get more comfortable.”