22 • June 2014
Vestavia Voice
School House VHHS We the People among top five teams in the nation After three riveting days of congressional hearings on the U.S. Constitution, Vestavia Hills High School placed in the top five in the nation at the We the People finals in Washington D.C. Hundreds of teams began the road to nationals back in the fall at the regional and state level. A total of 56 teams were invited to compete in the first two days of constitutional debate at George Mason University. Only ten teams, including Alabama, advanced to the final day of competition. The final day competitors enjoyed the privilege of debating in congressional hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. Vestavia’s team competed in the Judiciary Committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building, the same room used for the Watergate hearings. The “We the People” competition, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is in its 27th year. Students research and study the Constitution and compete in simulated
congressional hearings that assess their knowledge and interpretation of government foundations. The subjects discussed range from pre-Constitution America to the modern era. The judges included state Supreme Court justices, law school and political science professors, an FCC attorney, trial lawyers, a Senior Fellow at the American Policy Council, educational think tank leaders, a deputy attorney general, a county treasurer and an attorney for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Many of the participants take AP U.S. History in 10th and 11th grade. It is a two-year class so the AP exam is given at the end of the student’s junior year. The AP class is not a requirement, but it is a common path to We the People. Students must apply and be selected to be on the We the People team. This happens during second semester of junior year during course selection for their senior year. -Submitted by Kendra Thornley
Pizitz Robotics named champions
This year’s VHHS We the People team members are Jaxon Thomley, Stacey Reimann, Jon Woodall, Silin Li, Mary Catherine Cook, PJ Spina, Austin Owen, Patricia Howard, Wendi Lu, Siyin Han, Mitchell Eitzen, Emma Jackson, Claire Chen, Nicole Estrada, Andrea Lin, Kelly Chen, Emmy Ye, and Aditi Prasad. They are led by teachers Amy Maddox and Jane Schaefer. Photo courtesy of Kendra Thornley.
The Pizitz Middle School VEX Robotics team competed in the state TSA/VEX competition at The University of Alabama in April, winning the state title for the middle school division. They also competed in 23 TSA events including challenges such as Aviation, Structural Engineering, Problem Solving, Speech and more. Overall, the Pizitz team was awarded 40 top-10 awards, with every Pizitz team member placing in the top 10 of at least one of their events. In the competition, the students are challenged by the VEX Robotics Design System, which is an exciting platform for learning in the areas
of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Using the VEX Robotics technology, the students are able to explore careers in the STEM areas. In addition, students work on developing leadership skills, team building and problem solving when designing and building innovative robots for qualification matches and skill challenges. Devin Gilleland was selected as the TSA Student of the Year (Technology Student Association), competing with more than 1,000 other students. William McInnish was selected as the TSA State Advisor of the Year. Other Pizitz
students earning awards were: second place in State Pin – Owen Kew, third place in Career Prep – Johnathan Burke, fourth place in Tech Bowl – team members Jeremy Chu, Devin Gilleland and Max Woolley. Other team members were Alex Gilleland, Liam Childers, Pearce Dunham, Oren Ford, Cross Hogland, Beau Reed, Johnathan Burke, Jeremy Chu, Derrin King, Demarcus Mitchel, Ari Tsantes, Daniel Wilson and Angela Zheng. -Submitted by Catherine Horton, Pizitz Middle School