Press Release

Reception Today For East's Constitutional Scholars Team

Today the East High School Constitutional Scholars Team will be honored at the Governor's residence in advance of their 13th trip to the national finals later this month.

Traditionally, the East team has performed extremely well at the national "We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution" competition. East was the national champion in 1992 and has also finished second, third (two times), sixth, and seventh (four times).

The reception today begins at 4:30 p.m. The Governor's Residence is located at 400 E. 8th Ave.

"This is the best possible learning experience any teacher could hope to provide," said Beth Gower, resource specialist in the School-to-Career office. "This is application of knowledge and critical thinking at its highest level. This is not a quiz bowl - but discussion, questioning and providing supporting evidence of all opinions in the Senate hearing style."

Questions may probe the First Amendment and Due Process matters, for instance, or the contributions of European philosophy and colonial experience to the American view of rights.

The 24-member East team, coached by teacher Edna Sutton, will display their prowess during a portion of the reception today.

The two-day first round of the competition in Washington, D.C. begins Saturday, April 21st. The final ten teams will compete in a second round Monday, April 23rd.

Each year, the competition gets tougher. There are now 51 teams in the national competition including a team from Washington, D.C.