We the People was officially started in 1989 by Congress to honor the bicentennial of the constitution. Since then, it has become widely popular across the nation and is now competed by 48 different schools representing their state. Teams attend Regionals where they can either win or get a wildcard to then advance them to State. Teams then attend state, followed by Nationals which are hosted in Washington D.C. every year providing the students with an immersive learning experience of real government work.

“Congress initially funded [We The People] and then about 13 years ago they took away the funding so because of that , every state now does not have a program,” We the People coach Janet Chandler said. “Indiana has always kept its program and is partially funded by the Indiana Bar Foundation and the Indiana General Assembly.”

We the People is a class divided into three levels with elementary, middle school and high school. At the high school level, if AP Government is taken in the first semester, the student is automatically put into We the People.

“Students are divided up into six different units where each has a different focus,” Chandler said. “They then work to answer questions that are given to them by the Center For Civic Education who runs the program nationally. After answering the questions, they then testify in front of a panel of judges so the process simulates a congressional hearing where then this panel of judges will ask them questions about what they have said or about what they haven’t said where they then assess them on that.”

As of Dec. 4, We the People has just won Regionals and is now preparing for state. This year, state will take place on Dec. 11 in downtown Indianapolis.

To prepare for State, students follow  the same revision process that they have used for previous competitions. Although State will require students to create new papers, their revision process is going to stay the same. This revision process is a very neat and continuous cycle where students will craft their papers, check them with Chandler where she will then give them corrections and suggestions where then students go back and fix their papers. These papers get written, checked and fixed over and over again until they are perfect and ready to compete.

“I love the competitive feel that State brings,” senior We the People member Natalie Truong said. “Knowing Nationals is at stake along with going against the best of the best in our State [really brings that feeling].”

These students have put a lot of hours and hard work into writing these papers and expanding their knowledge about the constitution and different government properties to ensure their readiness for state.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” Truong said. “I can’t wait to see how the team does especially with all the work we’ve put in.”