At 5:15 a.m. on a cool Thursday morning, thirty groggy seniors gathered outside AHS to board a bus that would take them to LAX. Their final destination? The Nationals competition for the We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution program in Washington, D.C.

 
Constitution Team (Gov. Team) is made up of 30 seniors, split into six units of five students. Each unit studies a different aspect of the Constitution, ranging from the philosophical foundations of the document to its modern day challenges and applications. The team is led by Ms. Leahy, and community members also join in to coach individual units. Having competed at the district and state levels, Gov. Team won a wildcard slot for nationals after placing second at the State competition in February.

 
After a spectacular performance at State, Gov. Team began to prepare for nationals by writing and rewriting the nationals-level hearing questions and attended weekly Chambers practices on Monday nights. When asked about the difficulty of the Nationals hearing questions, Unit 1 member senior Eric Choi noted that “many of the questions weren’t what you would expect for Unit 1, we had a question pertaining to modern day economics rather than the usual history and philosophy.”

 
The Nationals competition took place at the National Conference Center from Apr. 21 to 24, with teams from all over the nation coming together to present their hearing questions and converse with judges in timed, free-response questioning. For Gov. Team, competing at the nationals level was “nerve-wracking,” but ultimately “rewarding because it brought the whole team closer,” said Unit 5 member senior Brandon Lu.

 
Although they were nervous, Gov. Team did not let uncertainty get in their way as they prepared to present to the judges. The units went in order from 1 to 6, presenting one question on Saturday, Apr. 22 and one on Sunday, Apr. 23. Regarding the pressure of going first, Unit 1 member senior Sharne Sun admitted that “we were really nervous to be going first, and especially because we got our hardest question—the one about economics—on the first day, but the judges gave us very encouraging comments.”

 
Having given successful testimonials on Saturday and Sunday, Gov. Team stood in anticipation as the top ten teams—which would move onto competition on Monday—were announced on Sunday night. When the teams were called, and Arcadia not in the mix, Unit 3 member senior Cathleen Huang recalled feeling “devastated.”

 
Thus, the team took Monday to tour Washington D.C. Unit 4 member Vivian Long expressed that “even though I was upset we didn’t make finals, it was still really nice to be able to see a bunch of monuments with my teammates.”

 
At the awards ceremony, AHS Gov. Team received the Western States Regional Award, for placing as the best non-finalist team in the Western Region. Later, Gov. Team found out they had placed in 11th place after being tied for 10th with Alabama, and losing out in the tiebreaker. When asked for his opinion about the 10th/11th place finish, Unit 6 member senior Jacob Walsh asserted that “I’m really, really proud that we did so well.”

 
Congratulations on a successful season, Gov. Team, and good luck in all your future endeavors!

Photo Courtesy of AHS GOV TEAM.