Maggie Walker’s ‘We the People’ team wins its 20th state title in the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, a civics and constitutional knowledge hearing held at the Darden School of Business at UVA on Friday, January 26th. Run by the Center for Civic Education and James Madison’s Montpelier, this year’s competition brought together teams from across the state to focus on their understanding of the Constitution and current and past events surrounding the United States Government. Students are divided into units and prepare a four-minute presentation on their focus area then participate in simulated Congressional hearings on a wide variety of topics from natural rights to immigration and Congressional representation.
“This year’s team is a great mix of backgrounds, ideas, and areas of interest. They feel a little bit of pressure because of last year’s nationals win, but they have some fascinating Constitutional and political questions of their own to present on this year, from Aristotle to the Marshall Plan to Congressional polarization,” said faculty sponsor, Mr. Sam Ulmschneider. Senior Rachel Zhao was asked for a student perspective into the WTP experience, and responded: “it’s been challenging as I never studied this in-depth before; studies about the constitution, but also very rewarding working with my teammates.”
This year Maggie Walker will attend its 20th national hearings on April 27–May 1, 2018, at the National Conference Center in the Washington, DC area, where students will compete with over 1,200 students from 56 other teams throughout the nation. The students are aiming for a possible fourth national title, which the school won in 2003, 2011, and 2017 and to continue the school’s unbroken streak of top ten finishes. The ‘We the People’ program at Maggie Walker continues to help make Virginia a dominant force in civic and constitutional education.
Team Sponsor and Teacher: Mr. Sam Ulmschneider
Team Members:
| Morgan Ackley | Ninfa Amador-Hernandez |
| Alexandra Barrett | Claire Bencks |
| Kelin Carpenter | Andrew Datovech |
| Idoia Dizon | Ryan Ellis |
| Isabel Galgano | Benjamin Hazelton |
| Thea Konefal | Natalie Little |
| Emily Ma | Ashley Nelson |
| Elizabeth Pearson | Owen Peck |
| Catherine Qian | Donovan Reynolds |
| Priya Singh | Sadiesha Taylor |
| Brittani Telfair | Elias Wolman |
| Rachel Zhao | Michael Zmuda |
