We the people hearings held at Riverside High School

On Tuesday April 21, Riverside High School’ junior government class held their We The People hearings as part of their district assessment.  

Teacher Stuart DesRosier explained. “This is a very challenging assignment where the students prepare a written response to difficult constitutional questions and present them to a panel of judges from outside the school.  After their presentation the judges then asked them, questions concerning their answers.  This is a great opportunity for students to interact with adults from outside the school about questions concerning government, democracy and the constitution as well as its real-world use.  Having the panel of judges ask probing questions makes the students apply their knowledge gained throughout the semester. The students prepared to answer three questions not knowing which one question the judges would ask.  The juniors selected to answer questions on units concerning:  What Rights Does the Bill of Rights Protect?” 

The judges who took the time to come talk to the students were; The Honorable Bobbi Overfield, Craft County, Attorney Marsha Bean, Assistant County Attorney Kimberly Mickelson, Attorney Jennifer Kirk, District Law Clerk Clayton Culbreath, Attorney Georgia Hunt, Mayor CJ Duncan and retired teacher and judge Tom Harrington. 

DesRosier noted “This year was particularly interesting, after doing this for several years I can predict which groups of students will probably do well.  The groups that looked good in practice did well but several groups that were iffy really stepped up and did outstanding work.  One of the aims of this project is to increase the level of civil discourse and the idea that you can disagree with someone and still be civil.  Several of these groups did that exceptionally well.” 

The rigor of the questions has increased over past years with this year’s questions dealing with censorship and free speech on social media platforms and the effect of mass surveillance and artificial intelligence. Another beneficial aspect o of this project is the students use the principles of the Constitution to address real life issues affecting the students and how it all comes together.