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We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution
In December of 2003, the LYC Program of the New York State Bar
Association became the New York State Administrator of the We the People
Program of the Center for Civic Education.
The primary goal of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
is to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation's
elementary and secondary students. What makes the program so successful
is the design of its instructional program, including its innovative
culminating activity. The instructional program enhances students’
understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy.
At the same time, students discover the contemporary relevance of the
Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing in
which students "testify" before a panel of judges. Students demonstrate
their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles and have
opportunities to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant
historical and contemporary issues.
Each year high school We the People classes are invited to
participate in the We the People State Hearings. Teams first
testify at one of the four Regional Hearings. Top classes at
the regional level attend the state finals. (see dates below)
CLICK HERE to see our We the People students
demonstrate their knowledge . . .
Important 2011-12 Dates for the We the People: The Citizen and the
Constitution Program
Regional Hearings. Teams must compete in a
Regional Hearing to earn the chance to be one of the four teams
selected for We the People State Finals in Albany. Your Regional
Coordinator (listed below) must hear from you by mid-November if you
plan to bring a team to the Regional Hearing. Use this ROSTER to submit to your
coordinator.
The State Level Questions are used at both
the Regional and State hearings. Classes prepare all
three questions in each of the six units. One of the three
questions will be used at Regional Hearings. A second question will be
chosen for the State Hearings. There is no prior announcement as to
which question will be used in any hearing. Students should be prepared
to answer any of the three State questions provided for each unit.
Download questions using the links below:
CLICK HERE to download the
questions as a Word file
CLICK HERE to download the
questions as a PDF file
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JUDGES: CLICK HERE
for information on what to expect and a helpful orientation video.
State level questions will be used for Regional and State
Hearings.
TIMERS: Click here for instructional
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Regional Coordinators:
David Scott - Long Island - patch@northport.k12.ny.us
Region One Hearings, Dec. 10, 2011; Smithtown HS
West
Debra Lesser - New York City - dlesser@schools.nyc.gov
Region Two Hearings, Dec. 10, 2011; Martin Luther
King HS, NY, NY
Mary Miller - Hudson Valley/upstate - mmiller@nynpa.com
TBA
Susan Boyle-Osier - Central & Western NY - sboyle@hillside.com
TBA
 New York
State Hearings
JAN. 14, 2012
Albany, NY
National Hearings
April 27-30, 2012
George Mason University, VA
CLICK HERE for message regarding Nationals
(pdf)
Training for teachers is available in a variety of ways:
In-service sessions/workshops offered in Congressional District
or regionally
In-service sessions/workshops offered through a school
district
Regional/National Summer Institutes
All professional development sessions are offered at no
charge
Textbooks
Teachers can receive free classroom sets of
textbooks by attending a training session of not less than three hours
in length. Sets may also be purchased.
A classroom set includes 30 student textbooks, a teacher’s
guide and an information packet.
Textbooks are available at three levels:
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Level I
Upper Elementary
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Level II
Middle School
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Level III
High School
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Related Files
class rosters (Adobe PDF File)
WTP State Questions 2011-12 (Adobe PDF File)
Rules (Adobe PDF File)
MerrittArticle (Adobe PDF File)
The Little Class That Could (Adobe PDF File)
WTP Nationals Update (Adobe PDF File)
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