Jan 9, 2009

Howell High School wins third place in We the People state finals


LANSING - Howell High School students from teacher Mark Oglesby's senior government class took third place in the State Finals of the We the People competition on Friday, the 4th year in a row Howell has placed third.

Howell scored 920 points out of a possible 1080, and that left them a mere 25 points out of first, the closest Howell has ever come. Seven other high schools participated; Coldwater, East Grand Rapids High School, East Kentwood High School, Hudsonville High School, Marguette Senior High School, Mason High School and Richmond High School.

Students are divided into teams of three to six students, and the teams demonstrate their knowledge of various areas of the U.S. Constitution before three judges made up of community leaders from across the state in a format that resembles a Congressional hearing. They are then graded on a variety of areas, such as knowledge, reasoning, presentation and participation. We the People is a nationwide program developed by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center For Civic Education. The group’s s mission is to foster the development of informed, responsible citizen participation in civic life. The actual program is based on materials developed by the center, and the program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Howell’s Unit Three team - consisting of Michael Brown, Shayla Henrikson, and Matthew Wendell - finished first out of all of the unit three teams.

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