“We The People” of RAL: Seniors Compete on Civics Knowledge

By Hannah Morgan

Approximately 110 seniors loaded onto buses at 7:50 a.m., Friday, November 13.

 However, they weren’t going to school; they were heading to the WSU-Vancouver campus to compete in a Civics competition.

Mr. Weber’s Civics classes have been competing in the “We the People” Civics competition since 2001. He divides the classes into six groups, and those groups spend the first half of the semester working on three presentations to bring with them to the competition.

Once at the competition, they are then told which script, that they prepared, they are to read to the judges. Judges are community members and teachers from WSU-Vancouver and local schools.

 “We did pretty well,” Mr. Weber said. “We are the only school who sends all their students, and not just an AP class. The others cherry pick [they only send their best students], which I think is a disadvantage to their students. Even MM is looking into developing a program similar to ours.”

There was some minor confusion upon arrival, with one group being sent to the wrong classroom.

“We got sent to four wrong classrooms, and some classrooms that didn’t exist,” Jacob Miller 12 said, “It was really frustrating. We missed a presentation, but we got to make it up after.”

Technically, only 5th period was in competition with the other schools, which included Evergreen, Heritage, and Ridgefield. The other three classes were showcase groups, and each received a plaque for their performances.

Fifth period, or RAL 1, also received a plaque for their efforts. They got fourth place in the competition.

 Many of the judges commended RAL for their efforts and poise in the competition. Sam Tilton, a MM teacher who was also a judge, emailed Mr. Weber and said the he was impressed with the students of RAL, and that all the groups that he judged were, “outstanding representatives of R. A. Long.”