When you read the phrase “We The People,” what comes to mind?  For most, they are the first three words contained in the preamble to the United States Constitution.

For a number of HSE Schools students, that phrase is the name for a highly-competitive program that pits schools from around Indiana, and the nation, in a contest of knowledge about American civic understanding, particularly related to American history and our constitution.

For many years, our two high schools have had a We The People class that students take for credit.  Part of the class is competing against other schools.  The idea is to write and read for judges a four-minute paper on a specific issue.  The students then take questions from judges about that paper.  That panel of judges then rates the team.

Teachers Janet Chandler at HSE High School and Liz Paternoster at Fishers have had teams score highly enough in state competition to qualify for the national finals in past years.  In 2019, both teams qualified to attend the national competition in the Washington DC area.  HSE High School finished 7th and Fishers 8th nationally.

A few years ago, Mike Fassold, a teacher at Fishers Junior High School, started a “We the People” program at his school.  Fassold coached teams to two national titles, then his 2019 team finished second in the nation.

Recent surveys and polls have found the American population in general has very little knowledge and understanding about the American Constitution and our political history.  Frankly, our education system has emphasized technical subjects more than social studies in recent times.

However, there are groups of students at HSE Schools with an in-depth understanding of our government because some hard-working, dedicated teachers have worked with them to become national leaders in the We The People program.

We should all be proud.