Joplin High School Students Win Statewide Civics Competition

Joplin HS2It takes more than a tornado to stop the Joplin students of Mr. Keczkemethy’s high school government class. The students won this year’s statewide We the People civics competition, held in Jefferson City. His students demonstrated their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and our system of government in mock hearings, which were judged by lawyers and Missouri state judges.Typical questions the students addressed were: “How have the values and principles embodied in the Constitution shaped American institutions and practices?”

What made their accomplishment even more significant was that they had lost their library of civics books in last year’s tornado and depended on the Internet and a few texts.

Students representing Joplin High School were: Laurna Alumbaugh, Siri Ancha, Robert Barr, Derek Carter, Jerad Fischer, Taylor Haddad, Brandon Holman, Julia Lewis, Taylor Mann, Lydia McAllister, Matthey O’Dell, Danielle Patrick, Ethan Ritchel, Raycee Thompson, Zackary Wages and Alexa Wilcoxon.

This is the second year in a row that Joplin High School has won and will represent Missouri in the national finals in Washington, D.C., later in the spring.

The Missouri Bar is the state’s sponsors of We the People. We the People is a civics education program that has been rated as one of the top 10 educational programs in the nation.

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