By: Olivia McCown –
The average American citizen most likely can’t tell you much about the Constitution other than sing the preamble or name a few amendments, but the We The People Program (WEPO or WTP) works to give students an immersive learning experience into the document our nation holds so near and dear.
As a part of the AP Government and Politics class (AP GOPO), students were put into groups to study specific parts of the constitution, present some statements explaining their findings, and become masters of the constitution. Thirteen students from Southeast went to compete at nationals in Washington D.C. from April 21 through 25.
“It’s a part of the AP GOPO class,” said senior Ramey Vachal, who went to nationals. “If you take AP GOPO first semester, the WEPO competition counts as part of your final, so I liked that aspect of not having just a written final. Also I am pretty interested in politics so I thought it would be a fun thing to be a part of.”
The actual competition is structured like a congressional hearing “There were six units, and so one unit goes at a time, and we all sit at this table, across from three super qualified people that are kind of intimidating, and you go one at a time and read your response.
Though the teams from LSE didn’t win any awards, they represented the school well, and even got to meet Senator Elizabeth Warren while in D.C.
“I think we did a really good job,” said senior Megan Schulte-Covert. “The thing is, there were 55 teams that were there. We don’t know for sure how well we did, but I think we were close to the top.”
The WEPO competition is a lot of work, but a great, in-depth experience to better understand one of the most important documents in American history.
“I think it helped to get outside the normal classroom setting and actually immerse yourself in the subject matter and become more personally involved with it, instead of just learning from a textbook, and that just heightened my interest in the subject,” said Vachal.
Photo courtesy of Meredith Enersen
