Washington Post Highlights We the People

Apr 18, 2012 / E-news
Tags: Browne Academy, civic education, civics, Stuart-Hobson Middle School, Virginia, We the People

An article in this weekend’s Washington Post explored the experiences of two We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution middle school classes as they participated in Virginia’s middle school championship.

Stuart-Hobson Middle School eighth-graders review their We the People textbooks (photo by Ann Cameron Siegal, Washington Post).

We the People changed how the Virginia students understood their government: “I assumed the president could make laws at will,” said a student from Alexandria’s Browne Academy. “However, our government has a balanced system. All three branches [executive, legislative and judicial] have important roles and serve different purposes.”

The program gave others greater confidence: “Practicing in front of the judges made me very nervous at first, but then it became easier,” said a student from Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington.

We the People also deepened this student’s knowledge. She said, “It made me feel like I could become a history major, even if I’m only in the eighth grade.”

You can read the full article  on the Washington Post’s website.