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We the People team competes in national competition, explores D.C. By Toby goldfarb '23

On April 21, Staples' AP Government We the People class, taught by social studies teacher Suzanne Kammerman, boarded the Amtrak at the Bridgeport Train Station with suitcases, bright smiles and deep constitutional insight.

Logan Goodman '24 (left) and Dylan Fiore '24 (right) proudly wore their custom We the People shirts on the train ride to mentally prepare for the weekend.
The competition ran two rounds, one Saturday and one Sunday, for each unit to deliver a speech for one question. Staples' team has been preparing since securing the "wild card" at the statewide competition in January.
Although Staples fell short of securing a top 10 placement, Unit 1 (Emerson Briggs '24, Alyssa Lee '24 and Dylan Fiore '24) was awarded the "Unit Award," a prestigious national honor.
"Being at the Holocaust Museum really left a heavy weight on me not just because it was sad but because it opened my eyes to international conflicts," Tucker Peters '24 said. "The other sites we saw like Arlington National Cemetery exposed me to a new kind of thought regarding American history."
In between rounds, the team visited monuments, such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
One of the trip highlights was a tour of the Capitol Building led by Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes' staff. Students enjoyed a visit to the House of Representatives Gallery and a brief stop at the gift store. "Getting to explore D.C. with everyone was really fun and we learned a lot about our country's history," Annabelle Luo '24 said. "I'm super proud of all of us for making it to this point and competing at the national level."
The students visited many memorials on the trip, including the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Pentagon Memorial.

Regardless of the results, the team learned and grew together on the five day trip. After a successful year, the students — and Kammerman — feel fulfilled and grateful for the experience. “I was very proud of the students,” Kammerman said. “They had been working hard all year but really in the weeks prior to the national competition. Students were putting a lot of work into preparing their opening statements and getting ready for questioning, and the students performed really well under pressure.”

All photos by Toby Goldfarb '23