News – Sheridan Media
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Last December, in the winning tradition of Sheridan High School, SHS’s We the People Team won its twelfth state championship since 2009! The SHS team won in 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
According to SHS History Teacher and We the People sponsor Michael Thomas this year marks the 38th anniversary of this rigorous civics competition. On April 9-11, this year’s team will travel to the National Finals. This academic competition engages students in the study and deep understanding of the United States Constitution. During the competition, students will be expected to know a range of topics from the political influences of Ancient Rome to the impact our election process has in determining our next president.
Thomas added that this will be an extremely challenging endeavor; however, this committed group of A.P. Government students are ready to represent Sheridan and the great state of Wyoming. In order to travel to Washington, D.C., students must raise $90,000 within a very short time span–so every dollar donated will be critical to their overall goal.
Now, they need your financial help! There are three ways to support these Broncs and Lady Broncs; T-shirt sponsor 2024-2025 Wyoming WTP State Champions $100 (small printed name) $250 (large printed name) $500 or more (logo) to sponsor our team: send your gift of support to Sheridan High School ℅ We The People Team 1056 Long Drive Sheridan, Wy 82801. Checks can be made out to Sheridan High School. Or if you would like a tax benefit, please make your check out to the SHS Booster club (501c3 tax id #83-0296749).
On the check memo line, please indicate your donation to We the People. Thank you in advance for your support of this great team!
Thomas included a letter giving some additional background information on how We the People works. The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education organization that administers national and international civic education programs. The Center’s flagship civic education program, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, was developed in 1987 and adopted by the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, chaired by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, as the principal education program of the federal Constitution’s bicentennial. The success of the program at the Bicentennial Commission led to Congress continuing the program through the U.S. Department of Education from 1993 to 2011 as an authorized program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The foundation of the We the People program is the classroom curriculum. It complements the regular school curriculum by providing upper elementary, middle, and high school students with an innovative course of instruction on the history and principles of U.S. constitutional democracy.
The high school text covers these six units: ● Unit One: What Are the Philosophical and Historical Foundations of the American Political System? ● Unit Two: How Did the Framers Create the Constitution? ● Unit Three: How Has the Constitution Been Changed to Further the Ideals Contained in the Declaration? ● Unit Four: How Have the Values and Principles Embodied in the Constitution Shaped American Institutions? ● Unit Five: What Rights Does the Bill of Rights Protect? ● Unit Six: What Challenges Might Face American Constitutional Democracy in the Twenty-first Century?
The We the People program’s culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing in which students “testify” before a panel of judges acting as members of Congress. Students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles and have opportunities to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues. Teachers may engage their students in a noncompetitive simulated congressional hearing or a competitive hearing at some levels in certain states.
From December to January, We the People high school classes compete at state competitions throughout the country. Each spring, the state winner and wild card classes are eligible to participate in the We the People National Finals in the Washington, D.C, area at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia. The competition culminates with a top-ten final round to determine the national winner. The simulated congressional hearing not only deepens student knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, it also builds important 21st-century workplace skills and dispositions, such as working cooperatively as a team, public speaking, managing conflict, and reaching consensus.
The Center for Civic Education partners with a network of fifty state-based civics, government, and law programs sponsored by state bar associations and foundations, colleges and universities, state departments of education, and nonprofit civic education organizations to promote teaching and learning about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
We the People state coordinators maintain a network of local coordinators who promote the program to teachers and schools within their congressional district. The national breadth of the program means it reaches students in every geographical area, from rural poor areas to high-need urban school districts. The coordinators work with local and Washington, D.C., congressional offices to involve members of Congress and their staff in various aspects of the program, such as participating in student hearings, speaking to teachers at training workshops, and signing achievement certificates upon completion of the course of study.
Many staff from the Senate state office and House local district offices serve as judges in local and state student hearings. A research team from Georgetown University has conducted independent studies of We the People that have been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse, which includes the highest standards for research scholarship. The team found that We the People students scored significantly higher on tests of both civic knowledge and civic dispositions than their peers. These dispositions include (1) respect for the rule of law, (2) political attentiveness, (3) civic duty, (4) community involvement, (5) commitment to government service, and (6) the norms of political efficacy and political tolerance.
“Thank you in advance for your consideration,” Thomas said.
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Last modified: January 21, 2025