The We the People Nationals Award Ceremony aired via Zoom on the evening of April 26. The ceremony was the culmination of the 35th Annual We the People (WTP) National Finals. More than 1,000 students and teachers from across the nation participated in the competition, which took place from April 22 to April 25. Student teams from participating schools presented 600 half-hour simulated congressional hearings during the competition. Several teams from our Nevada schools made an excellent showing.

Reno High School placed 12th nationwide out of 47 schools nationwide, making them Nevada’s first place team. In spite of the final score, Reno High School’s students had to overcome more than 47 teams on their way to 12th place, as 17 Nevada schools competed in this year’s Regional Invitational (in December 21), and many schools in other states participated in their own high school programs. The 12th place is a hard-won accomplishment.  Richard Clark, Reno High School’s teacher, and Reno High’s Principal Kris Hackbusch, along with their various unit coaches, including Matt Ochs, Brian Karlin, Scott Daniels, Denny Martindale, and Sam Macaluso also deserve a great deal of credit. 

West Career and Technical Academy received a Unit 4 award. They are the Nevada wild card team (having come in second by just eight points at the state competition in February). Their teacher is Jeanine Roser, and their Principal is Doctor Amy Dockter Rozar. Among their coaches were John Tierney, Ryan Handlon, Sean McClelland, District Coordinators Will Hull, Jenna Garcia anc NVCCE Executive Director Kathleen Dickinson; there is no doubt their hard work contributed to this team’s victory. The students from West Career and Technical Academy showed real dedication to WTP this year, giving up the chance to attend their school’s prom in order to compete in Washington, DC. They made up for the omission by creating an alternate prom for themselves on the Saturday night of the competition.

Canyon Springs, a Title One school, should get a special mention for making it to the national finals against fierce competition from schools across the country, while facing some unique challenges this school year. The Canyon Springs team faced several administrative changes, with two different principals, and several changes in assistant principal. The school was the Representative John Lewis Honoree team this year (in 2015 it was the Warren Burger Honoree team). Their teacher is Dr. Lou Grillo; their coaches were Bruce Shocket, Dr. Michael Green, Aaron Ibarra from Senator Cortez Masto's office, Kathleen Dickinson, Sean McClelland, District Coordinator Will Hull and NVCCE Board member Ashley Nikkel. 

Ending the competition on another high for Nevada, the Basic Academy Choir from Henderson sang the National Anthem during the Award Ceremony. All of our Nevada participants should be very proud of themselves; the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement is very proud indeed. Many thanks go to all of the students, teachers, coaches, facilitators, alumni, judges, parents, volunteers, staff and board members whose participation made the competition and the awards ceremony such a great success. Three Nevadans served as judges at the 2022 We the People Nationals: Judge Lynne Simons; NVCCE Board member and UNR Professor Zelalem Bogale, Esq.; and 2015 Reed High School alumni Rohit Sidher, who will be passing on his knowledge and experience by teaching We the People at Legacy High School during the next school year.

The full results of the competition are as follows:

Top Twelve Placements

First:  California, Amador Valley High School

Second:  Indiana, Fishers High School

Third:  Virginia Wildcard, Douglas S. Freeman High School

Fourth:  California Wildcard, Foothill High School

Fifth:  Virginia, Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies 

Sixth:  Oregon, Grant High School

Seventh:  Colorado, Denver East High School

Eighth:  Washington, Tahoma High School

Ninth:  Wisconsin, Wauwatosa West High School

Tenth:  Connecticut, Trumbull High School

Eleventh:  Massachusetts, Easthampton High School 

Twelfth:  Nevada, Reno High School

Unit Awards

Unit 1:  Michigan, East Grand Rapids High School

Unit 2:  Wisconsin Wildcard, Wauwatosa East High School

Unit 3:  New Hampshire, Milford High School

Unit 4:  Nevada Wildcard, West Career and Technical Academy

Unit 5:  New Jersey, East Brunswick High School

Unit 6:  Utah, Green Canyon High School & Sky View High School

Division Awards

Division A:  Illinois, Maine South High School

Division B:  Alabama, Vestavia Hills High School

Division C:  Oregon Wildcard, Central Catholic High School

Division D:  Wyoming, Sheridan High School

Vistit the Center for Civic Education to watch the awards ceremony, and to meet some of the enthusiastic young people who successfully participated in this year’s national finals. The WTP National Finals are made possible in part by T-Mobile.

The Center for Civic Education is a national nonprofit organization, partnered with a network of civics, government and law programs in 50 states. It is sponsored in-part by state bar associations and foundations; colleges and universities; and other civic and law non-profit organizations. Its mission is to promote teaching and learning about the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution (WTP) promotes civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s upper elementary and secondary students. The WTP program’s text books, e-books, interactive strategies, socially relevant content and its simulated congressional hearings make teaching and learning more engaging and memorable for participating students and teachers. WTP offers an innovative course of instruction encompassing our country’s past, present and future; and the guiding principles of the United States constitutional democratic republic. In WTP’s three-plus decades, more than 30 million students and 75,000 educators have participated. Independent studies of WTP, conducted by a Georgetown University research team, found that students participating scored measurably higher on tests of civic knowledge and civic dispositions than their peers who did not take part in the program. The results of these studies have been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse. More information on these study results can be found online.

The Nevada Center for Civic Engagement (NVCCE) is a nonprofit with the mission of promoting and supporting the study of history, law and civics in order to encourage and equip our state’s young people with the tools to become responsible and informed citizens, committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in representative government.