STEVENSVILLE — A team of four students from Stevensville High School is raising money ahead of representing Montana at the national “We the People” civics competition in Washington D.C.. They are one of, if not the smallest, team to ever make the trip, but they have Stevensville, the Bitterroot Valley and the whole state of Montana behind them.
“It’s just so odd to know that us four are going to be going to the capitol to represent our entire state,” Jacob Wallace said.
Seniors Anton Miller, Emma McKoy, Cole Stuber and Wallace make up Stevenville’s “We the People” team. They attend mock constitutional competitions where a panel of judges, often real district judges or attorneys, ask them a series of rigorous questions.
“At least with the initial questions, you know the question,” Miller said. “But the follow-up questions, you have no idea what could be asked.”
“Ironically, the structure for the follow-up questions, they sound a lot like very tense or very nerve-wracking, but what we're kind of doing right now,” Wallace said. “Bouncing from person to person, giving our own take on the question and building off of that, actually, this is actually what we do.”
The team won the state competition in Helena, despite having only four members, compared to most teams’ 20.
“I can speak for everyone when I say we were very shocked. We weren't quite sure what to expect,” McKoy said. “It's a very unique but a very rewarding experience.”
“I knew we had to really overcome the odds against teams that were so much more bigger than us,” Stuber said. “So, after we won, just that blur feeling that it was pretty surreal.”
Since they won at the state level, the team is moving on to the national “We the People” competition in Washington D.C. in April. None of the members have ever been to D.C. before and they are excited. But first, they have to raise more than $22,000 to pay for the trip.
Thanks to donations and raffles with local businesses, they are about halfway to their goal. If you would like to contribute, you can donate online here.
“I've been involved in many clubs and sports throughout my years, but we haven't quite gotten an opportunity to represent our school at the national level like this, so it's exciting,” McKoy said.
“To finally be that team that places first for Stevensville, it means a lot to all of us,” Stuber said.
The team said the training and competitions have given them lots of knowledge, connections and even ideas for their futures. Some are considering further education and careers in political science.
Miller’s favorite part so-far was winning the state competition, even though it was stressful because the team is so small.
“I really enjoyed having all that pressure put on me to give good responses and give good answers to questions,” he said.
Wallace believes their success is an example of why schools should invest in civics education and extracurricular programming.
“I’ve always been a pretty big social studies nerd,” Wallace said. “We were able to draw from many kind of obscure Supreme Court cases or events that happened to the point where we were even impressing judges.”
The team’s experiences participating in the “We the People” will stay with them long after the trip to D.C. and after high school. They recommend other students and schools check out the program.
“I think it gives us good information that normal high school students wouldn't typically have access to or wouldn't typically look into,” McKoy said. “I feel a lot more confident in making decisions and in the future, when I'm able to vote, I believe I'll be a lot more knowledgeable.”
