Amador civics team state champs Amador civics team state champs (February 13, 2004)

Team raising funds for trip to nationals in Washington, D.C.
by Teresa C. Brown

The Amador Valley High School civics team members were named the state champs Feb. 6 in the "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution" competition held in Sacramento and are headed for Washington.

Led by civics teacher Matt Campbell, the team of 19 students competed against four finalist teams during the final rounds held at the Capitol building.

Foothill's civic team also competed at the state level after both groups won their U.S. Congressional district and region, but did not make the final rounds.

Amador's civics team included Nichole Barlow, Anna Currin, Tony D'Albora, Logan Daniels, Shelley DeFord, Mike Gondkoff, Gabe Ivey, Nate Koppikar, Kristen Macdonnell, Sonia Markovic, Jen Martin, Lacie McFarland, Shawna McGrath, Nicole Melton, Barry Ripley, Liz Schultze, Sunaina Selam, Kent Stander and Jae Yoo.

"It was an amazing experience and the journey continues," Campbell said during the Feb. 9 school board meeting in which students from both Amador and foothill were recognized. He also praised Foothill's knowledgeable team under the guidance of teacher Cindy Juarez, saying Amador's "margin of victory was slim."

Also during the board recognition ceremony, Juarez kicked off a fundraiser for Amador with a $250 donation toward its trip to Washington, D.C. "The Foothill High School We the People team want to make the first donation," Juarez said, "because you are representing not only Amador Valley, but also Pleasanton."

The Amador team is raising funds to help offset the expense of the team's travel in the first week of May to Washington, D.C., to compete for national honors. Donations may be mailed to the We the People Civics Team, c/o Amador Valley High School, 1155 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton 94566.

Launched in 1987, We the People is based on a 12-week educational program for high school seniors to give them a comprehensive understanding of democracy, including its fundamental principles, origins and historic development.

The crest of the program is the competitions beginning at the congressional district level and ascending to region, state and national levels. The students, teamed together in units of four to five students, field questions that test their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1992, '94, '95 and '96, Amador won at state level and its team won the national title in 1995. Juarez brought the program to Foothill in 1997 and since that time, the school has competed at state level in the past three years.

The Foothill team members were Donna Akmendrala, Kathleen Bissonnette, Leslie Bowen, Joyce Chen, Mallory Cloutier, Caitlin Curran, Ying Feng, Judith Gbadebo, Tulika Ghosh, Wenny Hsieh, Randi Kail, Austin Knuppe, June Lee, Dustin May, Thomas Murphy, Jacqueline Pugh, Sarah Rachmiel, Kirsten Reed, Alexandra Sabella, Amy Shen, Neel Upadhye, Igor Voloshin, David Will and Lauren Wolfe.

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