Richland Northeast High School’s AP US history class won the state championship at the statewide “We the People...the Citizen and the Constitution” competition December 7. Nine SC high schools took part in the competition, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, a national civics program.

The 32 winning students and their teacher, Elizabeth Crenshaw, will go on to the national competition in Washington, DC, in May, all expenses paid.

“We’re all thrilled,” said Ralph Schmidt, RNE’s principal. “This is the first time Richland Northeast has entered the ‘We the People’ competition. That we won the state championship on our first try says a lot about the level of work we do here.”

RNE was the only school from the Midlands to enter the competition. Preparation consists of a six–unit course of study on the US Constitution that the teacher has to incorporate into a class curriculum. Each unit includes three questions, one of which the students would have to address at the competition.

“You don’t know which of the three questions you’ll be asked,” said Crenshaw. “The team has to present a four–minute prepared statement. The judges then have six minutes to ask questions to ensure that the students understand the issue.”

Richland Northeast will represent SC’s 2nd Congressional District in the national “We the People” competition. Sara Wheeler, Richland School District 2’s ImPACT project director, is the 2nd Congressional District coordinator for the Center for Civic Education.