‘We the People’ Results Announced
Nearly 200 local high school students put their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution to the test over the weekend during the annual “We the People” Congressional Hearings competition. Due to COVID-19, this year’s competition was held virtually.
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 virtually in February.
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.
Because the state offers wild card spots to those teams that score high enough, both Arvin High School and Liberty High School are also eligible to compete in the state championships.
Centennial, East, South, and Liberty high schools made up the 23rd Congressional District, while those representing the 21st Congressional District were teams from Arvin, Golden Valley, and Mira Monte.
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.
2020 Team Results
1st (21 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) — East High School
Overall Regional Winner — Centennial High School