Gov. Team Advances to Nationals
February 7, 2017
On Feb. 4, high school students across California met in Bakersfield, CA to test the values and virtues of what that document, now immortalized in the hearts of American citizens, has led to; 4,543 words that forever shaped the course of history, a resounding cry that the lofty litigation of liberty could serve as a means of its protection. Congratulations AHS Constitution Team (Gov. Team) for defending the veracity of those ideals as 2nd place winners of the California State Finals for We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution!
AHS’ Gov. Team is made up of six units of five members, with each unit focusing on a different aspect of the Constitution. For example, senior Jacob Walsh described Unit 6 as focusing on “discussing current events, understanding the contemporary state of the governmental system, and addressing international issues,” while senior Brandon Lu’s Unit 5 focuses on “constitutional values in the Bill of Rights and court cases.” The team is led by Ms. Megan Leahy, as well as community members that coach individual units.
Gov. Team began preparing for this competition in October, attending various Monday night “Chambers” hearings and writing and rewriting State Hearing Questions that would ultimately be recited to esteemed judges from all over the state of California. Finally, after months of work, it was time to depart for Bakersfield. Gov. Team members left AHS on a rainy Friday morning, boarding a bus that would take them to State Finals.
Arriving in sunny Bakersfield on Friday, Feb. 3, members of Gov. Team descended from the bus in nervous anticipation of the competition to come. The team spent the evening of their first day attending an all team dinner—where members were able to meet other units and teams, as well as honor Ms. Leahy for her guidance of the team—and cramming all the last minute information they could read before Saturday morning’s competition.
At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, the team arose and groggily made their way to the hotel lobby for breakfast. Many members took advantage of the morning news being projected while senior Ian Xu grabbed the entire stock of lobby newspapers to distribute within the team. After, the team boarded the bus toward Golden Valley High School, where rounds were due to start at 8:45 a.m. Before the competition began, Gov. Team huddled in a circle, singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye. Senior Katie Nigolian provided inspiration by shouting “resilience!” Unit 3, scheduled to go first, earned the cheers of the entire team as members seniors Cathleen Huang, Hannah Chiu, Vivian Chan, Julia Wong, and Chelsea Lee prepared to start off the day with a bang.
The competition involved two rounds of questioning, with Units 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, and 2 proceeding in rapid order. At the end of the day, coaches, members, and parents alike rejoiced at the outstanding performance of the team, and hoped for the best at the awards ceremony.
At the awards ceremony, members sat nervously as various awards were handed out. First, Unit 4’s senior Hugh Cheon received a service award for his outstanding dedication to the team. Then, AHS’ Unit 1 received an award for highest scoring team unit. The finalists of the competition were announced—the teams that scored from 4th to 7th place.
Finally, it was time to announce 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Two rows of Gov. Team members held hands tightly, hoping for a 1st or 2nd place finish that would guarantee a place for AHS at nationals. 3rd place was given to Foothill High School, and Gov. Team members rejoiced as AHS was called as the 2nd place winner, with 1st place going to Amador Valley High School.
When asked about how he felt about the result, Ian said, “2nd place is definitely a good place to be if we use this as motivation… I want winning or at least beating AVHS to be the mission. I hope that we really focus and do what we did two weeks prior to State for the entire time up until nationals.”
For the third year in a row, Gov. Team will be heading to nationals.
Good job, and good luck Gov. Team!
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Photo courtesy of MS. MEGAN LEAHY