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High school students who represented Indiana at the 23rd annual We the People congressional hearing competition placed eighth
among the teams competing on the national level in Washington, D.C., April 22-27.
Team Indiana’s 28 seniors from Munster High School were among more than 1,100 high school students from 50 states,
the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Because the students advanced to the top 10, the team competed
in a congressional hearing room at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.
The team was supported by the Indiana Bar Foundation and financial contributions from members of the legal community.
Since the program moved to the Indiana State Bar Association and IBF six years ago, teams representing Indiana have placed
in the top 10 at the national level five out of the past six years, according to Erin Braun, director of civic education for
the IBF and We the People state coordinator.
“I could not be prouder of Team Indiana. To make the top 10 in the nation and finish eighth is not an easy accomplishment.
These students represented our state with poise and professionalism, and they get the importance of civic education,”
Braun said via e-mail.
“At the banquet, Mary Beth Tinker spoke and our students excitedly told us they had her autograph their pocket Constitutions,”
she added.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Tinker in 1969 on a First Amendment case.
The IBF is also promoting the website http://anhourforcivics.org/. The organization is seeking donations to cover civics education programs. They
ask attorneys to give the equivalent amount of one billable hour.•
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