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Nate Hulings
of the Gateway
In the halls of the Gig Harbor Civic Center last Thursday, people dressed in suits discussed the implications of Constitutional law and its impact on today’s society.
But it wasn’t a Hearing Examiner or city council meeting. The presentations came from 55 Peninsula High School students as they took part in the district “We the People” competition. The goal of “We the People” is simple: Promote civic competence.
“It asks the kids to go in-depth and study in-depth about the Constitution,” said Ken Brown, PHS civics and “We the People” teacher. “In a normal civics class, the Constitution is one thing that’s studied, but it’s not nearly as thorough as ‘We the People.’ ”
Thursday’s competition included 12 teams that represented six different units from two of Brown’s senior civics classes.
And after a morning and afternoon of competition, the third-period units came out victorious over their fourth-period counterparts. From here, they will compete at the state competition this January in Olympia.
From civil rights to search-and-seizure laws, “We the People” asks students to apply Constitutional issues and decisions to their own lives — a path that often leads students to discover that the Constitution is an evolving, living document, Brown said.
During the competition, groups use everything from historical events and philosophies to political-system ideologies and analogies.
In front of three judges, teams of three to five presented Constitutionally oriented research, responded to follow-up questions and received feedback.
This is PHS’ first year with the program. Brown taught at Gig Harbor High School for 13 years and started the school’s “We the People” program in 2001. He took the program with him when he began at PHS this year.
Competition judges included North Mason School Board member John Campbell, Gig Harbor City Administrator Rob Karlinsey and former “We the People” teacher Marleen Ott.
Student Adeeb Hamed said the experience of presenting his research in front of judges and his peers was nerve-wracking. Researching the Constitution was an eye-opening experience for the high school senior.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “Before this, I knew nothing about the Constitution. I had never seen the Constitution before.”
Through his team’s research on the development and expansion of the Bill of Rights, J.L. Gazabat said he gained a new appreciation for our country’s laws.
“Government is much more intricate than I originally understood,” he said.
As part of their presentation, Victoria Breskovich, Tyler Marchand and Katy Stephanoff were asked to weigh the pros and cons of proportional government at the federal level. The question was posed with the fact that each state has two senators, regardless of population.
And in its answers, the group proved respectful disagreement and political discussion can co-exist.
While Stephanoff and Marchand said smaller states could be left voiceless in a proportional Senate government, Breskovich argued that larger states have more people, and thus those opinions need to be amply recognized.
The group also was asked to discuss Constitutional law when it came to the old practice of counting slaves as a population.
Marchand said including slaves would boost the representation at the federal level. The laws that made that possible, he added, wound up helping to fuel the Civil Rights movement.
Peninsula High School was the only school represented at the district competition. There are currently no other “We the People” programs in the 6th Congressional district, which is how the areas are divided.
Competitors made it clear that “We the People” is not a debate competition. While dinner table politics and talk radio is all about being right, “We the People” has a different purpose, they said.
“Here, it’s all about discussing the issues and seeing the angles from both sides, not just yelling,” Brown said.
Competition also tends to bring out the best in student academia.
“Kids are used to competing in athletics; most kids aren’t used to competing in their academics,” Brown said.
None of the students involved in the competition are on either the school’s debate or Knowledge Bowl teams. For some, Thursday was their first and last academic competition.
Last year, Brown’s GHHS AP U.S. Government class had a team that won first place in the state competition and went to Washington, D.C., in late April for the national competition.
“Unfortunately, the program won’t continue at Gig Harbor High School this year,” Brown said. “It is bittersweet.”
The “We the People” program has been around since 1987. In 22 years, more than 28 million students and 90,000 thousand educators have participated in the program.
For Alex Tablazon, “We the People” has created a better overall experience for high school civics classes.
“Compared to old civics curriculum, this gives you a better understanding on how it (the Constitution) works, and how it impacts our lives,” Tablazon said.