Trumbull We the People Team Sweeps the State

On December 11th, Katie Boland’s AP/ECE Government class of 24 seniors at Trumbull High School won the State Championship for the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition at Central Connecticut State University. The team swept the state with six first place wins. The students began their preparation at the start of the school year as they became experts testifying on constitutional issues in a simulated congressional hearing.

Gabrielle Tropp, a senior at Trumbull High School, said “It’s a really gratifying feeling to know that our hard work paid off. Trumbull’s We the People team has given me the knowledge to go out into the world as a good citizen and the ability to formulate opinions and think for myself about issues more complicated than I ever thought I’d be dealing with. I can’t wait to learn even more and do even more for Nationals.”

Now in its 29th year, the competition sponsored by the Center for Civic Education (CA) and Civics First (CT) involved entire classes making presentations and answering questions on constitutional topics from judges around the state. The teams were judged not only on the content of their opening statement, but also their ability to answer follow up questions from a panel of judges both with opinion and fact. Trumbull High School competed against teams from St. Joseph’s High School (Trumbull), Greenwich High School, Immaculate High School (Danbury), South Windsor High School, Staples High School (Westport), and Torrington High School. Trumbull came in first place with 1047 points out of a potential 1080 points followed by Greenwich (995 points) and Staples (991 points). This victory marked Ms. Boland’s fifth straight victory at the state level.

“I never could have imagined the amount of knowledge and experience I would get out of this class before I joined,” said Matthew Buckwald, a senior at Trumbull High School. “I can debate with people with so much confidence and ability to carry on a respectful and efficient discussion. From being judged by some of the top lawyers in the region to sweeping the state in the competition, I am so grateful for this opportunity I have been given in We the People.”

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 practices sessions for the team throughout the semester.

The team also received help from a graduate of Trumbull High School and former We the People state champion. Andrew Gladstein (Trumbull ’02) invited Trumbull to his law firm in New York City in early December for a special practice sessions. Special counsels and attorneys from his law firm, Schulte, Roth & Zabel, provided extensive background research and posed difficult questions to the group to push their research further.

“We’ve put so much work into this competition for the past few months, including after school meetings with teachers and local history experts and working with a great group of New York City lawyers. And the fact that every team won shows just how much we’ve collectively put our minds into this,” said senior Caroline Slack. She went on to add that winning wasn’t the most important thing to her – it was the skills she gained from this class. “I’ve learned so much from this program about US history and how the government works. Because of We the People I have gained so much knowledge that will be valuable to me for the rest of my life.”

The team now advances to the national finals to be held in Washington D.C. from April 22nd to 25th to compete against teams from all over the country. Ms. Boland’s 2013 team came in 8th place in the nation and they hope to do even better this year. The class will have a new set of questions in late January to prepare and more research to be done in order to attain success on the national stage.

Aravind Sureshbabu, senior at Trumbull, said “This class was amazing. Not only because I was able to learn so much about our country but because of the kids. I feel honored to have done this with some of the smartest, kindest, and most dedicated people I have ever met. We became a family and that’s what makes us different. I know we’re going to give it our all at nationals and make Trumbull proud.”

The team members are James Allen, W. Taylor Auten, Bhavya Bhushan, Matthew Buckwald, Kristi Bui, Emily Ciancimino, Ava Gallo, Erin Garrity, Zachary Gottschall, Katherine Griffin, Nathalia Hernandez, Dylan McEniry, James McEwan, Rebecca Molinoff, Dante Montanaro, Nikaash Pasnoori, Emily Ramsey, Spencer Rauner, Caroline Slack, Aravind Sureshbabu, Gabrielle Tropp, Rachel Tropp, Benjamin Vu, and Madeline Weinstein.