[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[EXTEN]
[Page 5395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE WE THE PEOPLE CIVICS TEAM FROM FREMONT, CALIFORNIA'S 
                         IRVINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 2005

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the 2005 ``We the 
People: The Citizen and the Constitution'' class of Fremont, 
California's Irvington High School in my district for winning the state 
championship in January.
  The We the People competition is an educational program administered 
by the Center for Civic Education of Los Angeles and funded by the U.S. 
Department of Education. The main focus of the program is to 
commemorate the framing and adoption of the Constitution and the Bill 
of Rights and to revitalize educational programs on the Constitution in 
our Nation's schools. It provides a course of instruction on the basic 
principles of our Nation's constitutional democracy and the history of 
the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Participants then enter into 
competitive simulated congressional hearings following the course of 
study.
  Students who wish to participate in the program must go through an 
interview process the year prior to the start of the class. The 
applicants must answer questions similar to the ones they will be asked 
during competition.
  Accepted applicants learn and familiarize themselves with current 
event topics along with curriculum taught in the class. There are six 
different areas that are taught in the course and each participant must 
become an expert in each and every area.
  The participants prepare for several months before testifying to a 
panel made up of judges representing the community. The judges ask 
detailed follow-up questions regarding the presentation, which require 
the students to think quickly and provide spontaneous answers. They 
compete first at two competitions at the local level before going to 
the state championships. Those who win at the state level go on to 
compete nationally.
  In January, students from ten schools representing various areas of 
California came to Sacramento to compete in the state We the People 
championship. I am proud to say that the Irvington High School team, 
coached by their teacher Mrs. Cook-Kallio, won the competition and will 
be representing California during the national finals, which will be 
held from April 30th through May 3rd here, in Washington, DC.
  The victory reflects the hard work and dedication these students put 
together after about nine months of preparation. The Irvington team 
spent countless hours in and out of class getting ready for the 
competition. Most groups stayed past 10 p.m. on some nights to take 
part in practice sessions where their teacher, Mrs. Cook-Kallio, along 
with other teachers and alumni of Irvington High School, drilled them 
on their subjects to try and simulate the environment of the 
competition.
  I applaud the We the People class, Mrs. Cook-Kallio, and Irvington 
High School in reaching the national finals and am honored to have them 
represent the state of California at the national level. I join with 
other admirers and members in the community of Fremont in wishing the 
team luck. I hope to be giving another congratulatory speech once they 
become National champions.

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