Winning a national championship is wonderful thing for any group of students.  But there is a price to pay.  The school year must end.  The students must move on to the next phase of the educational journey, and the teachers must prepare for a new group of students waiting for them.

The Fishers Junior High School (FJHS) We the People team won a national championship, competing with schools from around the nation on their ability to handle civic issues and questions about the United States Constitution.

In a celebration of that achievement at FJHS Wednesday night, stories were told about how We the People almost didn’t happen there.  The major complexities of changing student schedules and providing support for the program carried an additional burden for counselors, Principal Chrystal Thorpe and the teacher, Mike Fassold.

All that work paid off with a national championship team.  Mike Fassold fought back tears when talking about his students.  It was emotional because he knows this group is moving on as the school year closes.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board held part of its meeting during the ceremony, and passed a resolution honoring the team.   You can read the resolution at this link.

I had the honor of speaking before this class on fake news, and they were all very curious, wanting to know how to find reliable information from the various news sources available today.  I had been a practice judge for the HSE High School We The People team, and had the chance to have some practice sessions with the FJHS team just days before they departed for the nation’s capital.  I could sense this group to be special but didn’t know if they were national champion material.  They took the stage in DC and showed us all how to accept such a high honor with a great deal of humility.

So, it was a special night at FJHS honors these special students and teachers.  This is a group of junior high students I will never forget.