January 16, 2012
Contact: Lara Slifko 602-340-7366
Print Press Release

TEMPE SCHOOL WILL TRAVEL TO NATIONAL COMPETITION

Corona del Sol High School named State Champions

(Phoenix, AZ) - Competing against Arizona’s top 10 regional teams, Tempe’s Corona del Sol High School captured a first-place ranking in the annual We the People academic competition. The students from Corona del Sol will represent Arizona in Washington, DC at the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals in late April.More than 1200 High School students from all fifty states and the District of Columbia will participate in this highly prestigious academic competition that tests students’ knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.    

“As coach I was pleased with how the team came together and supported each other throughout the competition.  Of course a goal of the class is to win State, but more importantly, as an educator, it is to increase my students understanding and appreciation of our Constitutional Democracy,” said Tim Smith who led his class to the championship.

Students representing Corona del Sol High School are: Grace Augee, Lauren Balconi, Sahil Bissessur, Brooke Campbell, Andrea Carpenter, Alexi Choueiri, Robert Choueiri, Sharae Dewitt, Brianna Duong, Thaminda Edirisooriya, Annika Faucon, Alexa Frechette, Nitin Gupta, Rachel Gur-Arie, Alex Karr, Michael Kim, Simona Kovatcheva, Matt Lim, Ben Miller, Benjamin Murphy, Courtney Naumann, Daniel Ober-Reynolds, Vince Quintana, Drake Ridge, Hirsh Shah, Ankush Sharma, Philip Whittaker, Steven Womer, Collin Xa, Cyndia Yu. nd, 3^rd and 4^th place teams were Hamilton High School Chandler), Skyline High School, and Prescott High School.

The remaining high school teams competing received the following unit awards Lake Havasu for Unit 1, Marcos de Niza for Unit 2, Red Mountain for Unit 3, Maricopa for Unit 4, Gilbert Classical Academy for Unit 5, Rio Rico for Unit 6

Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education Community Resource Manager Susan Nusall remarked, “Each year we are incredibly impressed by the poise and knowledge of all the We the People students that participate in the program. It is truly a remarkable group of students and teachers!”

In addition to the 10 high schools that competed in the competition, there were also 2 Showcase teams from Desert Sands Middle School (Phoenix) and Capps Middle School (Heber). These students also presented their knowledge and skills of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in a non-competitive environment.

The national, state and local competitions are important culminating activities of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, the most extensive civic education program of its kind in the country. The We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution textbook, developed by the Center for Civic Education, is distributed in Arizona at no cost to Arizona teachers who attend professional development trainings conducted by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education. The Foundation reaches over 300 teachers annually with free We the People training and textbooks.