'We the People' team crowned champs

The Sisters High School (SHS) "We the People" team traveled to Pendleton on Tuesday, January 13, and took top honors at the Second Congressional District competition.

Sisters students faced teams from Pendleton and Hermiston schools in competition centered around knowledge of the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the documents and laws that influenced them.

The Outlaws' victory over Pendleton, Second District reigning champs, was the major upset of the competition, and earned Sisters a berth in the state championships.

"We the People," sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is an annual nationwide competition. Each high school represented created six teams of from four to six students. Teams then studied a specific element of the Constitution and prepared statements relevant to its area of focus. At the competition each team presented their specific issue in a four-minute position statement, followed immediately by six minutes of cross examination by lawyers, judges, teachers and historians, all experts in Constitutional law.

Teams were judged by these experts on their knowledge of the Constitution, evidence, reasoning, responsiveness and participation.

While most "We the People" teams consist of 24 members, Sisters only had 12. This meant that several members of the team, including Wes Ford, Kathleen Greaney, Drew Herron, Hayden Stein, Chrissy Pulig-Gomez, Anna Rasmussen, Molly Blust and Madeline Bearzi had to present two constitutional positions and face two cross examinations rather than one.

Gladden made special note of Rasmussen, Greaney and Ford, who received perfect marks on many of the judging criteria for their constitutional question.

"They possessed such a command of the issues that after the competition, a number of the judges came up to me and told me that they had not seen any other team come close to their level of understanding," said SHS teacher and "We the People" team coach Garrett Gladden.

Jacqueline Bryan, Aubrey Cretsinger, Jim Lewis, and Thomas Schantz were also members of the District Champion team.

Gladden was extremely pleased with his team and the outcome of the competition.

Gladden said, "This opportunity provided a chance for the Outlaws to showcase their hard work and knowledge they gained throughout the fall in preparation for the competition. All their hard work paid off. Their depth of knowledge and ability to answer tough cross examination from the judges was truly impressive. They took first place against incredibly capable opponents to become the regional champions."

Exhibition (JV) coach Bill Rexford said, "The competition was reward enough in itself, for the students had learned so much about our country and the Constitution and are now ready to go out and be contributing active members of our society. It brought me great pride and joy in watching our students perform under pressure in the manner they did. Kudos to Coach Gladden and his Outlaw team."

Rexford added, "The students I took participated just for the love of the competition. I think what the JV squad will take away from this is equally as important and lasting as the District Champion team."

The championship team will head to Portland to face Lake Oswego, Grant, Lincoln and one team that is yet undecided, at the state competition on Friday, January 23, at the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse.

Students' knowledge of the U.S. Constitution will determine which Oregon team will head to Washington, D.C., in April to compete at the national level.