Ms. Amy Grundt’s Problems in American Democracy (PAD) honors class met at Cranston High School West on Saturday morning, March 1st to participate in a state hearing competition based on the textbook, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution.
The SHS seniors competed against students from Coventry, Central Falls, and the winning school North Smithfield.
Scituate participants included Aurora Pinkey-Drobnis, Kayla Dellefratte, Katie Karlberg, Laila Miller, Gabe Fine, Ashley Hicks, Mary Marzano, Emily Converse, and Jessica Widele. Unable to attend were classmates Ian Barkley and James Picot-Vierra.
The Center of Civic Education, an independent agency funded by the U.S. Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act, conducted the competition. The agency encourages students to become more interested and involved in the history and procedures of our government, as well as grow to become good citizens.
The PAD students prepared for the state hearing during the past two months by studying concepts within the six units of the textbook. Each student was assigned to thoroughly understand two units and to be able to answer complicated questions in the section.
The units included questions about demographics, civil liberties, polling, values, and governmental history of the United States. For each of the questions in their section, the seniors prepared an answer in the form of a 4-minute speech. Students were also expected to provide an insightful answer to a follow-up question from the judges. Judges included teachers, attorneys, and retired government officials.
The participants were divided into separate classrooms according to their high school to answer the questions. The students came together at the conclusion of the questioning, and North Smithfield was announced as the winning school. They will represent Rhode Island and compete against students from every state in Washington, D.C. in early May during the national state hearing competition.
Ms. Grundt’s students are disappointed that they didn’t win the trip to D.C., but believe that they did their best to answer each question intelligently. They feel the competition was difficult because it was everyone’s first experience. Senior Katie Karlberg said, “We would have been more prepared if we knew what it was going to be like.”
Ms. Grundt’s students agree with her belief that the state hearing competition was a great “applied learning” experience that encourages civic participation. Ms. Grundt emphasizes that “she is very proud of her students and loves them the same.”
Ms. Grundt is excited to complete the We The People textbook and continue the class in a new direction. The honors students will now spend the majority of their time concentrating on their 8-10 page essay focusing on a “problem in American Democracy,” due May 20th.