Centennial Students Take First in State ‘We the People’ Competition!
article by: Charlene Humphreys (CMS student)

Thirty honors students from Centennial Middle School brought home the state title in the “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” Junior High competition, which was held last Thursday in Salt Lake City.

“We the People” is a program sponsored by the Utah Law Related Education Project and the Center for Civic Education, where the primary goal is to “promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s elementary and secondary schools.” The competition was in the form of a congressional hearing, and the students were required to demonstrate their knowledge of the principles taught in the Constitution.

The students were divided into six units and assigned topics related to Constitutional issues like federalism and freedom of religion. Centennial students each memorized their own portion of a speech, relayed it to a panel of judges, and with a firm understanding of the Constitution and our nation’s history, answered questions from the judges.

The competition finals were held at the University of Utah, and a total of six other Utah schools attended, including Brockbank, Central Davis, Evergreen, Oak Canyon, and Sunset Ridge, each bringing their own class of middle-school students. Centennial placed first in units on John Locke’s influence on the Constitutional framers and the compromises made between northern and southern states at the constitutional convention. These two top rankings combined with other unit scores to secure the overall top score and Centennial’s sixth consecutive state championship.

The students studied and practiced for several weeks to get ready for the competition. “The time we spent preparing really paid off in the end,” said student Benjamin Seely.

The American Studies teacher Miss Thornock, commented, “The best part was seeing that my students remembered what I had taught them and were able to apply it to their lives.” Miss Thornock has been teaching at CMS for thirteen years, and has now coached six winning Centennial teams in the “We the People” competition.