2019 ‘We the People’ results
Nearly 200 local high school students put their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution to the test on Saturday, Dec. 7 during the annual “We the People” Congressional Hearings competition at Golden Valley High School. In the end, it was Centennial High School that took home the victory in the regional competition. Centennial High will go on to represent Kern County in the state championships to be held Feb. 8 in Sacramento.
The regional competition consisted of ten Kern County high school teams competing for a chance to win either the 21st or 23rd Congressional District title, depending on the district in which they were seeded. Arvin High School won the 21st Congressional District trophy and Centennial was victorious in the 23rd District. Centennial High emerged as the overall region champion in very close scoring.
Arvin High School’s runner-up finish does not necessarily mean it is out of a chance to compete in the state championships. There are ten regional representatives. In past years, as many as two regions have not sent representatives leaving wild card openings for teams with the best statewide scores among runners-up.
Centennial, East, West, South, Ridgeview and Liberty high schools made up the 23rd Congressional District, while those representing the 21st Congressional District were teams from Arvin, Golden Valley, Mira Monte and Shafter high schools.
Each team individually presented testimony in two rounds of six mock congressional hearings. Congressional committees, consisting of community scholars and civic leaders, posed one of three study questions to the students prior to the competition. Each team was allowed four minutes to present testimony. Then, for an additional six minutes, teams answered questions posed by judges involving constitutional issues raised by events in history. The combined totals of all six team units determined the winner.
2019 Team Results
1st (21st District) — Arvin High School
2nd (21st District) — Golden Valley High School
3rd (21st District) — Mira Monte High School
1st (23rd District) — Centennial High School
2nd (23rd District) — Liberty High School
3rd (23rd District) — Ridgeview High School
Overall Regional Winner — Centennial High School