Collaboration and team companionship are two main factors that students involved in ‘We The People’ utilize during competitions. The class is well-known for their performances in many categories and competitions.

However, the main purpose of the class is to teach students about the inner workings and foundations of the United States government, as well as instilling the importance of legislative and governmental education in youth. The competitions give students opportunities to showcase their skills in policy as well as a taste of what it could be like to represent a certain issue.

“The main purpose is civic education,” senior competitor Malia Ulmer said. “This class gives kids the ability to share their diverse ideas, as well as teaching them more about the government.”

Dec. 9 and 10, the school’s ‘We The People’ team competed in state during the national qualifications at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Indianapolis to try their luck against other Indiana teams. The winner would move on to nationals, along with a potential wild card runner-up team where they would compete in Washington DC. These competitions are strikingly very close in some states, which is where the wild card comes in.

“On a basic level, a wild card means you didn’t get first, but you you did quite well,” senior competitor Will Leonard said. “On a national level, it depends on how many teams are needed and Indiana naturally has a lot of competition.”

Although FHS did not receive the first place position at state, they have received the wildcard spot which means they could have an opportunity to compete again alongside HSE as team Indiana and the other ‘We The People’ teams across the nation. The team faces many challenges, they hope to overcome along the way.

“[The most challenging thing about ‘We The People’] is sticking to your argument,” senior competitor Olivia Craig said. “It doesn’t necessarily look great to the judges when they can change your amount about it. You can respectfully acknowledge the other side’s arguments, but you always have to be confident in your own argument.”

As of now, FHS is still preparing to make a decision on whether to attend nationals to help represent team Indiana.