Ft. Thomas Highlands team wins state 'We The People' competition
The 2016 Kentucky We The People championship team
A team from Ft. Thomas Highlands High School won the Jan. 26 “We the People” Constitution competition and will represent Kentucky in the national finals.
The contest, hosted by the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, assessed students’ knowledge and understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Teams studied law, historical decision making and key events through their respective schools and then participated in mock Congressional hearings. UofL professors, McConnell Scholar alumni, local civic leaders and UofL students judged the event.
"Understanding the American constitutional order has always been vital. As civic education offerings have diminished in curriculum of many schools, programs like We The People become ever more essential in our efforts to encourage our young people to understand and think through our heritage of free government," said McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg. "I applaud these young people and their teachers for going the extra mile to become more informed and engaged citizens."
A team from Bullitt East High School also competed in the high school division.
The Ft. Thomas team will participate in the national championship, held annually in congressional hearing rooms on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The team is coached by Megan Boimann-Hennies. Brian Robinson is the school principal.
Glenn Manns serves as the state coordinator for the Kentucky "We The People" program and organized the annual event.
Participants on the Ft. Thomas Highlands team include:
- Jacob An
- Anna Carter
- Michael Daly
- Owen Downard
- Ben Emery
- Molly Fernandez
- Etana Garfinkle-Plymesser
- Malorie Hegge
- Oscar Heithaus
- Lexi Herman
- Maria Hockney
- Maddie Huber
- Jack Jager
- Kaiya Linkugel
- Jeremy Marquardt
- Brett Marzano
- Geoffrey Mearns
- Molly Mearns
- Ryan Millard
- Jasper Noble
- Mariah Nurre
- Kaitlyn Rott
- Nathan Schimpf
- Sam Steiden
- Allie Stevens
- Ellie Van Curen
- Yovani Velasquez