May 5, 2011

LONG ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL WINS AWARD AT NATIONAL “WE THE PEOPLE” HEARINGS

ALBANY— Students from Half Hollow Hills East High School (Dix Hills) were recognized with one of six unit awards at the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution national finals.

The Long Island team was honored for its excellence in answering questions on “How the Values and Principles Embodied in the Constitution Shaped American Institutions and Practices.”

Half Hollow Hills East students, under the guidance of teacher David Pitman, continued their success after winning the competition’s statewide championship in March, administered by the New York State Bar Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship Program (LYC).

The three-day competition took place from April 30-May 1 in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Results were announced at an awards banquet May 2 before an audience of 1,500 students, teachers, coordinators, judges and other program participants. Competitors represented all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program has reached more than 30 million students and 81,000 teachers since 1987. The U.S. Department of Education funds the program, which is directed by the Center for Civic Education in Woodland Hills, CA.

Additional funding for the 2011 national finals came from the Center for Civic Education, state donors, and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation in partnership with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association, the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation, was founded in 1876.

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