Mesa’s Dobson High School Wins Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education's "We the People" State Competition

January 12, 2004
Contact: Sarah Ramos (602)340-7362
PDFPrint Press Release

Who: Ten of Arizona’s top high school civics and government classrooms.

What: The Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education’s 17th annual “We the People…the Citizen and the Constitution” state competition.

When: The state competition took place on Friday, January 9th at Arizona State University West.

Winners: These teams scored highest overall for all six units
1st place – Dobson High School (Mesa), Abby Dupke, Teacher
2nd place – Corona Del Sol High School (Tempe), Tim Smith, Teacher
3rd place – Hamilton High School (Chandler), Mike Spears, Teacher
4th place – Mountain Ridge High School (Glendale), Tammy Waller, Teacher

Unit Winners: These teams scored highest on individual units of the six units judged
Unit 1 – Mountain Ridge High School (Glendale), Tammy Waller, Teacher
Unit 2 - Prescott High School, Dorrean Walker, Teacher
Unit 3 – Marcos De Niza High School (Tempe), David Dotts, Teacher
Unit 4 – Lake Havasu High School, Jaime Festa-Daigle, Teacher
Unit 5 – Desert View High School (Tucson), Dorita Brady, Teacher
Unit 6 - Nogales High School, Ricardo Ojeda, Teacher

History of “We the People” We the People is sponsored by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education and supported with funding by the Arizona Supreme Court and the Center for Civic Education. Over the last seventeen years, the Foundation has trained several hundred Arizona teachers and distributed thousands of free sets of We the People textbooks to Arizona classrooms. As a result, thousands of Arizona students have learned about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights through this innovative, active-learning curriculum.

Additional information and photos of the competition or contact Susan Nusall, state program coordinator at 602-340-7361 or via email.

We the People… the Citizen and the Constitution State Tournament
January 9th, 2004
ASU West Campus

Fact Sheet
Ten teams competed: (School, Teacher, School Office Phone Number)

Dobson High School, Abby Dupke - (480) 472-3000
Hamilton High School, Michael Spears - (480) 883-5000
Mountain Ridge High School, Tammy Waller - (623) 376-3000 (2 teams)
Prescott High School, Dorrean Walker - (928) 445-2322
Marcos De Niza High School, David Dotts - (480) 838-3200
Desert View High School, Dorita Brady - (520) 545-5100
Lake Havasu High School, Jamie Festa-Daigle – (928) 855-4011
Nogales High School, Ricardo Ojeda – (520) 377-2021
Corona del Sol, Tim Smith – (480) 752-8888

• Two teams “showcased” but did not compete:

  • Globe High School, David Franquero - (928) 425-3211
  • Capps Middle School (Heber), Jim Maner – (928) 535-4667

• Regional tournaments were held in Arizona’s eight Congressional Districts. Sixteen teams competed in the regional tournaments.

• Each team consists of a regularly rostered class of Juniors or Seniors who are studying Civics and Government or History.

• The winner of the State tournament advances to the national tournament in Washington DC which will be held in May 2004. Arizona has won several National We the People awards:

  • 2003 – 3rd place - Dobson High School (Mesa)
  • 2002 - National Championship - Dobson High School (Mesa)
  • 2001 - 10th place - Corona del Sol High School (Tempe)
  • 2000 - 5th place - Dobson High School (Mesa)

• The We the People curriculum meets all the Arizona Civics and Government standards and many Language Arts standards as well. The program encourages active learning in and out of the classroom about contemporary constitutional issues, the history of democratic philosophy and the history surrounding the creation of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

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