By Isabella Zarate
According to St. Joseph-Ogden High School student Emily Elsbernd, “Civic education is more important than ever in our country.”
Elsbernd is one of the twelve members involved in Civics teacher Marshall Schacht’s Don Beckett’s Constitution Team.
“The team teaches young voters the importance of informing themselves and truly understanding the constitution, the government, and their rights,” Elsbernd shares.
This April, Elsbernd and 11 other students will get the chance to take what they learned in the classroom all the way to Washington, D.C.
Following the team’s state competition in Chicago, they were chosen as a wild card to compete in nationals and are thus heading to D.C. from April 21-25.
“It’s just an incredible opportunity to compete in person after in-person competition has been suspended since COVID-19,” Elsebern shares.
“I’m looking to make myself and our coaches more proud than anything.”
For Elsbernd, she is most excited to represent the community. “I’m looking forward to showing that our small, rural high school can put forth students who can academically compete on a national stage.”
Jack Setterdahl is also a member of the team, and aside from the competition he is looking forward to the journey. “It is a big upside too that we will be doing this competition in DC and we will get to do the touristy things while we are there.”
Though, keeping the end goal in mind, Setterdahl claims that his personal hope “is that at least one of our units is able to get a regional unit award.”
For another student, Johanna Schmitz this is her first trip to the Capital, and while she is a big art fan eager to visit the Smithsonian, she is most excited about competing.
“To me, this trip means that I have another chance to not only showcase what I have learned this year but to show that I can apply it in meaningful ways to my life,” Schmitz shares.
She goes on, “Our statements and answers aren’t about spouting off every amendment in the Bill of Rights or memorizing every Supreme Court case in recent history (although knowing them does help). They’re about demonstrating that we have some understanding of how to use what has gone before us to make meaningful decisions now.”
While the team is both excited and eager, they are also anticipating some challenges.
“We are a small public school competing against private high schools that focus on the government,” says team member Kirsten Schaefer.
“There are many anticipated challenges,” Setterdahl continues. “We know everything won’t go to plan. There is the issue of having to travel days before and not being at the highschool where we have many resources.”
Elsbernd foresees the biggest challenge being time. “We have a shorter amount of time to prepare this time,” she explains. “Not to mention the enumerable clubs and sports we’re involved in outside of We the People.”
Despite the expected challenges, the trip is still sure to be memorable.
“We as a team just really have a great time with this,” Setterdahl claims. “We all really share a passion for this and really enjoy what we do.”
As for Schmitz, her biggest goal is to land “at least one mic drop moment during the questions and answer portion.”
“In other words,” Schmitz explains, “I want to receive a question that I was so prepared for that I can assert my opinion in a clear, concise way with historical and Constitutional evidence to support it.”
In all, as Elsbernd puts it, “this team has created such a welcoming environment of teenagers who are passionate about civics.”
Though many of the students have no future plans to pursue things such as politics or law they have been able to learn so much and build confidence competing with knowledge we would have never held otherwise.
Elsbernd concludes, “it’s also unique in that it’s a group of people that would otherwise not be in activities together; we have theater kids, musicians, and athletes.”
As of now, the trip as well as the team are being sponsored by many local businesses including Libman, Martin Hood, Hoveln and Country Financial. The team is also hoping to fundraise through a number of upcoming events including the “We the Pasta Dinner Trivia Night and Silent Auction” on Saturday March 25, and “We the Pickle (ball) Tournament” on Sunday April 2.
For more information regarding the team and their upcoming events refer to their Facebook page.
