Staples’ “We The People” Team Makes School History

One of the joys of March Madness is watching low-seeded teams succeed.

“We the People” is not the NCAA basketball tournament.

But don’t tell that to the high school students who compete every year.

For 11 years, Staples High School juniors and seniors in Suzanne Kammerman’s Advanced Placement Politics & Government class have participated in the event.

They’re spurred by their interest in the subject, a strong desire to win, and the fierce passion their teacher — a former “We the People” competitor herself, at Shelton High School — brings to the classroom.

This is not exactly a “name the president and your 2 US senators” contest,

Here is one example of the questions they tackle, from a previous year:

Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote, “I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.” Do you agree or disagree with Justice Holmes? Why?

That’s a tough question. It takes a ton of work just to understand what Holmes said — let alone figure out what you think, then devise arguments for or against it.

But that’s what Staples students — under the direction of Kammerman (with help from Westport men and women with experience in government and law, who volunteer their time, plus several alumni) — have done since September.

In addition to the regular classroom component, they prepare and present oral arguments on specific sections of the Constitution in simulated congressional hearings, followed by a questi9n-and-answer session with a panel of judges.

It is not for the faint of heart. The students grapple with difficult constitutional questions — and the judges demand clear, compelling answers.

After months of preparation, the Staples team placed second at February’s state competition. Trumbull — their traditional “We the People” rival, who they’ve edged out in the past — took the top spot.

But the Westporters’ performance earned them a wild card spot. They began feverish preparations, for the 4-day trip to Washington.

Staples High School’s “We the People” team …

There were 48 teams in DC (making it more difficult, in a sense, than March Madness, with 68).

The first 2 rounds — and a meeting with Senator Chris Murphy in his office — were followed by a Thursday night DJ dance party. The highlight there was not grinding, but the announcement of the top 10 teams.

Among them: Staples High.

Kammerman’s kids were ecstatic. But they quickly settled down.

The first rounds had been held in a convention center. Friday was more historic: The finals were set for the National Union Building, an 1890 event space.

Friday night featured the awards ceremony. Staples’ “We the People” team finished 8th in the nation.

… and their national competition award.

That’s their highest finish ever. In 2020, the pandemic forced the competition into a virtual format. With fewer states competing, and a trunacated format — 1 round of competition, instead of 3 — Staples placed 5th.

Staples was not the only wild card team to succeed this year. Five of the top 10 teams shared that honor — including national champion Sprague High of Oregon.

Perhaps the NCAA could benefit from some of that excitement.

“We the People” take their show on the road.

Congratulations to Kammerman and her students: Lila Boroujerdi, Kate Bulkeley, Lucas Ceballos-Cala, Olivia Cohn, Sofia Donroe, Gunnar Eklund, Will Enquist, Kasey Feeley, Nolan Francis, Jay Hari, Hugo Jacques, Souleye Kebe, Miles Kahn, Aidan Lapatine, Ryder Levine, Gray Peters, Andrew Rebello, Jack Robinson, Zara Saliba, R E I Seltzer, Jake Shufro, Alex Sod.

We — the Westport people — are very proud of you!

PS: Kammerman and the entire team give thanks to their “guest judges” who helped this year — Ira Bloom, J. Russell Bulkeley, Rachel Cohn, Danielle Dobin, Jamie Dockray, Jonathan Francis, Steve Gerber, Deb Goldfarb, Lee Goldstein, Jeff Hammer, Liz Heyer, Lauren Karpf, Rob Hordon, Andy Laskin, Jim Marpe, Nita Prasad, Candice Savin and Maria Signore.

Alumni who assisted include Andrew Berkowitz, Will Boberski, Mia Bomback, Nina Bowens, Emerson Briggs, Kendra Cheng, Alex Cozzolino, Dylan Fiore, Mack Haymond, Nate Hordon, Sorel Kennedy, Sam Laskin, Tucker Peters, Srish Popuri, Ko Seltzer, Jack Srihari and Lilly Weiz.

(For more information on “We the People,” and its sponsor The Center For Civic Education, click here.)

Staples’ “We the People” team, with Senator Chris Murphy. There may be a future US senator in Suzanne Kammerman’s class.

The video below features one of the 6 “units” of the Staples “We the People” calss. This panel focused on the Bill of Rights, exploring the rights and protections it guarantees.  The team includes Olivia Cohn, Graysen Peters and Alex Sod. Nolan Francis was on this team, but could not participate in Washington because of an injury.

(“06880” often highlights the achivements of Staples students. If you appreciate stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)