Arvin High shines in hearings

wepeople082:

Members of Arvin High's Hearing Four team (from left) Ricardo Perez, Bianca Perez, Sandra Arias, Eleazar Gutierrez and Paulina Gamez, were poised under tough questioning from the judges.

wepeople083:

Centennial High's Caylynn Simonson (right) had lots of family support as mom Atania Simonson and grandmother Rose Horner came out to cheer her on in the We the People...competition.

wepeople084:

Centennial High’s Hearing One team of (from front) Hannah Renick, Josh Novins, Matt Adams and Kelsey Linford displayed confidence prior to earning first place honors for their unit.

Arvin High School has its sights set on Sacramento where it will represent Kern County at the California "We the People - The Citizen and the Constitution" congressional hearings competition from Feb. 4-6. Arvin earned the right by defeating Centennial High School in the Region 4 championships held Dec. 2 at California State University, Bakersfield.

Arvin and Centennial emerged from a field of 12 Kern County high schools to be crowned district winners. Teams competed in either the 22nd or 20th Congressional Districts with Arvin winning the 20th Congressional District trophy and emerging as the overall champion based on total team points. Centennial was the 22nd Congressional District winner.

Arvin has come along way to be at the top, duplicating its effort of two years ago - the first time in school history it had ever won the overall title. Traditionally, Arvin provides education to many students for whom English is a second language. The fact that they were at the top of the "We the People" ladder speaks volumes about the team’s desire to overcome language barriers and commit long hours for researching and studying to accomplish their goal of winning.

Class President Evelyn Zuniga is a classic example of the scholastic effort being put forward. She is academically rated at the top of her class and waiting to hear whether she has been accepted to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. But on Dec. 2 all her energies and those of her teammates were directed toward being the best We the People team in the county. She said she learned a lot about the Constitution along the way. The 14th Amendment - dealing with citizenship and the guarantee of due process - served as her motivation.

"I believe it is so important because it reflects the basic principles of equality," Zuniga said. "It extends powers of protection to minorities, such as my family and friends. Even though some of my ancestors were discriminated against, today they are protected by the amendment. Before this last Presidential election, I know there were a lot of young people who felt their vote doesn’t count. That’s not true. We are directly affected by elections. If we get involved now, we can make our voices count later in life."

Centennial’s loss to Arvin does not necessarily mean it is out of a chance to compete in the state championships. There are 10 regional representatives. In past years, as many as two regions have not sent representatives leaving wild card openings for teams with the best statewide scores among runner-ups. Last year, regional runner-up Arvin received a wild card selection.

Centennial and Arvin have swapped places at the top of the regional competition for the last four years. But, just as Zuniga reflected on the life-teaching aspects of preparing for the competition, Centennial’s Cody Gaines also saw a more lasting benefit from all he has learned.

"It really pushes us to want to vote," Gaines said. "The ballot is our freedom of speech. It is pivotal."

The event is unique because the schools never compete face-to-face. Each team presents testimony individually in six mock congressional hearings. Congressional committees, consisting of community scholars and civic leaders, pose one of three study questions to the students prior to the competition. Each team is allowed four minutes to present testimony. Then, for an additional six minutes, teams answer questions posed by judges involving constitutional issues raised by events in history. The combined totals of all six team units determines the winner.

Preparation is everything in this competition. East High’s unit six team member Jeremy McNutt was equal to the task providing impromptu responses that might have made a Harvard lawyer proud. As an example, here is how he handled a judge’s question on "substance of process."

"Certain laws cannot be made because they infringe on the natural rights of humans," McNutt said. "If those rights are infringed upon by man made laws, they can be overturned by the courts." And to a question about the constitutionality of holding alleged terrorists in prison indefinitely, McNutt replied, "Their rights cannot be violated. There has to be habeas corpus or evidence that would result in them being put on trial."

Approximately 300 students participated in the competition giving testimony on questions relating to their study of the U.S. Constitution. Competing schools were: Centennial, East, Foothill, Golden Valley, Highland, Liberty, South and West high schools from the 22nd Congressional District, and from the 20th Congressional District - Arvin, Delano, Ridgeview and Shafter high schools.

Overall Finalists
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Shafter High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - Liberty High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - Foothill High School

Hearing #1
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Shafter High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Ridgeview High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - Liberty High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - Foothill High School

Hearing #2
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Shafter High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - Liberty High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - West High School

Hearing #3
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Delano High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - East High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - Liberty High School

Hearing #4
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Delano High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Liberty High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - West High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - Centennial High School

Hearing #5
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Delano High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Liberty High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - South High School

Hearing #6
20th Congressional District - First Place - Arvin High School
20th Congressional District - Second Place - Ridgeview High School
20th Congressional District - Third Place - Shafter High School
22nd Congressional District - First Place - Centennial High School
22nd Congressional District - Second Place - Foothill High School
22nd Congressional District - Third Place - East High School

Kern County Superintendent of Schools Larry E. Reider presented perpetual trophies to Arvin and Centennial at the awards ceremony in CSUB’s Doré Theater that will remain in the schools’ possession until next year’s competition.

Robert Ruckman is Arvin High School’s teacher/coach. Centennial High’s teacher coach is Ryan Coleman.

The Center for Civic Education in Calabasas, CA, originated and administers the nation-wide competition. Locally, it is coordinated by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office and made possible by a grant from Chevron. Other sponsors include CSUB, Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and Jim Costa and United States Department of Education.


Print This Page   Email This Page