Congratulations to the West Virginia State “We the People” Champions. Clay County High School’s Advance Placement Government & Politics class, taught by Mr. Philip Dobbins, competed virtually on Jan. 14, 2021 in the “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” State Competition. This is a competition where students demonstrate their knowledge of the Constitution and current issues in mock congressional style hearings.
Each school participating must divide their classes into six teams. These six teams prepare a four-minute verbal response to a constitutional question and then are asked follow-up questions by a panel of three judges for six minutes. Teams are scored on their knowledge of the Constitution and their ability to apply the concepts to their everyday lives as Americans. This victory is Clay County High School’s seventh consecutive state championship.
This has been an extraordinarily challenging school year for students, staff and parents. Preparation for competition this year was a combination of limited in-person instruction and substantial remote instruction. The few in-person meetings held took place with only half of the class present on rotating days. The majority of instruction was held via Zoom or Office 365 Teams. Students dedicated countless hours honing their Constitutional skills with practice and research. Every year Clay County High School students are dedicated to this event, but this year took an extra level of dedication given the stress of the pandemic and the logistical circumstances it created.
Classes can have individual team winners and overall class winners. Clay County High School won five out of six individual team championships and won the overall class state championship defeating the winners from congressional districts one and three. This victory earned the team a spot in the National Finals in Washington D.C. in April. Members of the class are Ava Taylor, Jaydin Cogar, Kelsey Prather, James “Monny” Holcomb, Aiden Taylor, McKenna Brown, Stephanie Naylor, Serena Neal, Cheston Haynes, Ivy Taylor and Matt Shelton. The team would also like to recognize and thank former CCHS teacher and Principal Mike Mullins for his hard work, dedication and help preparing the team for competition. Throughout the years, he has selflessly volunteered his time and knowledge and he is an invaluable part of the annual success of this program.
