March 9, 2010
LONG ISLAND’S HALF HOLLOW HILLS EAST HIGH
SCHOOL WINS “WE THE PEOPLE” STATE FINALS
High School will compete in the “We the
People” National Finals in Washington, D.C. this April
ALBANY—The New York State Bar Association’s Law Youth and
Citizenship Program today announced that Half Hollow Hills East High
School (Dix Hills, NY) is the statewide champion of the We the People:
The Citizen & the Constitution competition, the highly prestigious
national academic contest on the U.S. Constitution. As a result of its
victory, the team will represent New York in the national finals to be
held in Virginia and Washington, D.C. this April.
Half Hollow Hills East, under the guidance of teacher Scott Edwards,
accumulated the best scores of the nine high schools that attended the
New York State Final Hearings in Albany on March 6th. The students
studied for months to prepare for their roles as experts testifying on
constitutional issues in the simulated congressional hearings. A panel
of 19 judges rated the students on their knowledge of the Constitution
and their ability to relate today’s news and court cases to
various constitutional principles.
The first round of the national finals will be held at the Crystal
Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, April 24–25. The
competition involves entire classes making presentations and answering
questions on constitutional topics before a panel of judges recruited
from across the country. Constitutional scholars, lawyers, and
government leaders, acting as congressional committee members, will
judge the students' performances. The combined scores from the
first two days of those hearings will determine which classes will
compete in the championship round on Monday, April 26, in Senate hearing
rooms on Capitol Hill. That evening, the winning classes will receive
awards at a special ceremony held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, D.C.
The annual three-day final competition is the culminating activity of
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, the most extensive
education program of its kind in the country. The New York State Bar
Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship Program (LYC) administers
the nationwide program in New York. LYC is the third-largest civics and
law-related education program in the country.
The other eight schools receiving awards at the New York State Final
Hearings last week included:
• Townsend Harris High School in Flushing; Dr. Linda
Steinmann, teacher – second place
• Forest Hills High School in Queens; Ed Lam, teacher –
third place
• James Madison High School in Brooklyn; Ms. Stacey Azoff,
teacher – Unit 1 award
• Smithtown High School East on Long Island; Mr. Shaun
Minton, teacher – Unit 2 award
• Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn; Ms. Susana
Giberga, teacher – Unit 3 award
• New Visions Law and Government Program at the Capital
Region BOCES Career and Technical School in Albany; Mr. Richard Bader,
teacher – Unit 4 award
• Westfield Academy and Central School in Westfield; Mr. Greg
Birner, teacher – Unit 5 award
• Herricks High School in New Hyde Park; Ms. Jodi Thompson,
teacher – Unit 6 award
Implemented nationwide in upper elementary, middle, and high schools,
the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program has reached
more than 30 million students and 81,000 teachers since its inception in
1987. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under
the Education for Democracy Act approved by Congress and directed by the
Center for Civic Education in Calabasas, California.
Founded in 1876, the 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is
the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. The State
Bar’s programs and activities have continuously served the public
and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.
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