Tahoma High School’s storied We the People program this week added another top 10 finish to their belt, bringing home ninth place in the nation from the capitol.
“Tahoma’s We the People Constitutional Warriors did a fantastic job of representing Washington state at We the People Nationals in Washington, D.C. Their performance was absolutely outstanding, as they connected the founding principles of our democracy to current events,” adviser Gretchen Wulfing said. “These students articulated their answers to very aggressive, challenging questions with brilliance and heart. Their passion for our founding documents is inspiring. Under intense pressure, these students modeled civic discourse at a time when civility is lacking in political dialogue.”
The team traveled to D.C. last week and had time to do a bit of sight-seeing before competing against students from across the nation.
“Being in Washington, D.C. was really eye opening, it made me really want to get involved in the political arena. This is because I feel inspired to make changes like our current representatives are doing,” said Laura Pierson, Unit 4.
The competition is organized into units that study topics such as “What rights does the Bill of Rights protect,” and “How did the framers create the Constitution?”
Other schools in the top 10 included: Denver East High School (Colo.), first; Amador Valley High School (Calif.), second; Grant High School (Ore.), third; Lincoln High School (Ore.), fourth; Maggie L. Walker (Va.), fifth; Douglas S. Freeman High School (Va.), sixth; Hamilton Southeastern High School (Ind.), seventh; Fishers High School (Ind.), eighth; and Black River Public School (Mich.), 10th.
“Hearing that we made top 10 was a moment I will never forget. Chills ran down my spine, and I was just in awe. All this hard work had paid off, all the late nights, the memorizing, and everything in between, it was so worth it,” said senior Josh Hren, who was on Unit 3.
To read more about the national We the People program, click here: http://www.civiced.org/programs/wtp
“We are so thankful to the Tahoma School District and especially the entire Tahoma community for embracing all of us and your incredible support of this life-changing program,” Wulfing said. “I am also very grateful to fellow coach Mike Seger, who is a critical part of this team’s success.”
