On a warm June evening when most of their classmates were out in the sunshine, a group of students was hunkered down at a table, contemplating the finer points of a document that most adults don\u2019t think about on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n
The scene was Mill Creek Middle School and the event was the Mock Congressional Hearing – the culmination of a year spent studying the seminal set of laws penned by the nation\u2019s founding fathers.<\/p>\n
On this warm evening, teams of the top scholars in teacher James Frank\u2019s social studies class were sweating bullets as they formulated answers to questions about the Constitution posed by a panel of judges. And their questioners weren\u2019t just any judges – they were among Kent\u2019s top brass: Mayor Suzette Cooke, Councilman Ron Harmon and city staffer Victoria Andrews.<\/p>\n
Bathed in the lights on a raised stage and watched by their families, schoolmates and teachers, the teams of students battled to provide the best answers to the often complex questions proffered by Cooke and company.<\/p>\n
One of the questions: Should elected representatives of the people vote their conscience, or the will of the people they represent?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were voted on by people for the common welfare,\u201d one of the team members responded after some thought. \u201cIn the civic arena, they should set aside their personal concerns for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The questions flew and the answers came back – sometimes pregnant with pauses, and sometimes with the speed of insight.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look relaxed,\u201d Cooke told one group of teens after they\u2019d survived a round of friendly, yet focused questioning. \u201cAre you really relaxed?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the quiet that ensued, someone in the audience piped up and said \u201cNo!\u201d The team members broke into smiles.<\/p>\n
After each of the five teams (one team of scholars per each class of Frame\u2019s) had its time under the lights, the judges turned in their scores, and the team with the highest average was chosen as the winner. Students Jordan Batang, Edson Zaldivar, Stephanie O\u2019Hara, Jaylin Hill and Crisstian Ortega looked happy and relieved onstage as they received applause for their winning effort.<\/p>\n
Frame, reached after the hearing, said he was pleased with the event and how well the students did, even under pressure. It was an education, he noted, on several fronts: being able to meet deadlines, having effective study habits, and, above all, gaining insight into the workings of the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
That kind of understanding, he said, is critical in creating citizens who take an active role in the direction of their country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey get to become informed citizens, not just participants in the process,\u201d Frame said, of the curriculum they used and the often healthy debates it fostered in class. \u201cIt instills those ideas in the students early on. The kids demonstrated strong knowledge of the functions of government and were able to related our national government to their daily lives.<\/p>\n
Language arts teacher Karen Rossman, who collaborated on some parts of the curriculum with Frame, said she thought the program worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they got what we wanted them to get,\u201d she said. \u201cBasically what our country is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
For their part, the judges came away impressed with the level of understanding the contestants showed, even under pressure and in the spotlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know we\u2019re in good hands with your leadership,\u201d Cooke told one group of students following the questions. \u201cI\u2019m just worried we\u2019re going to have to wait until you\u2019re out of high school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Student Hill said he had been plenty nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was super-nervous,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then I just thought how good it would feel if we won, and I calmed down.\u201d<\/p>\n
His teammate O\u2019Hara someone managed to keep it together, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfterwards, I just collapsed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The names of the winning team members will be engraved on a plaque in the school office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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