Constitution Team Finishes Third at State Competition

Congratulations to the Central Catholic Constitution Team who earned third place in the We the People State Competition on Saturday, January 26. This was the seventh year the team has participated in the State Competition.  

The Oregon We the People competition is generally considered to be the toughest in the nation. Oregon teams have dominated the national competition for over a decade. This year, the Rams entered the state competition as underdogs, but in the end were able to finish in front of teams from Franklin, Cleveland and Lake Oswego high schools. 

The We the People program is a nationwide competition focused on public speaking and knowledge of government and the U.S. Constitution. Teams are divided into six units, each of which learns about a different aspect (e.g. historical, philosophical roots, Bill of Rights, etc.) of government and the Constitution. Students in each unit prepare four-minute responses to questions provided several months in advance.

At the competition at the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland, each unit presents its prepared responses, then answers six minutes of follow-up questions from a panel of competition judges. In addition to class time, students prepare by working with volunteer attorney coaches for several hours each week.