By NORA MABERRY-DANIELS
For the Leader

For the second year in a row, St. Joseph-Ogden placed second in the state We the People Constitution Contest at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
“Apparently, the scores were as close as they have been in quite some time, but mighty Maine South won again continuing their dominating streak,” said SJO teacher Marshall Schacht.
Last year, SJO’s second place win meant a trip to Washington D.C to compete in the national competition due to Illinois receiving a wild card bid. This didn’t happen this year.
“While the students were disappointed that they would not be advancing to Nationals, Illinois only gets a “wild card” bid every three years, they represented our school and their community very well,” Schacht said.
The contest is sponsored by The Center for Civic Education, a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in the United States and other countries.
To prepare for the contest, the civics students participated in a dress rehearsal in early December at the University of Illinois Law School.
All of the candidates circuit judge served as judges for each of the six unit groups as they took their questions out for a trial run in the congressional hearing format.
“It was quite a setting for the students to see how much work they needed to do their competition in Chicago,” Schacht said.
During the contest students are asked questions regarding  the constitution and are asked to testify as constitutional experts.
Students are scored on how well they demonstrate their comprehension of the various historical and  contemporary issues associated with each question, including the main question, subquestions, and  judges’ followup questions, how students demonstrate their knowledge of the history and principles of the Constitution, if students’ arguments reflect logical and critical thinking and if they can provide examples and supporting evidence.
They are also judged on responsiveness to the questions and if students fully address the main question, subquestions, and judges’ follow-up questions.
They are also judged on group participation.
Participants included Laney Menees, Mason Housenga, Corynne Roberts, Abbey Mizer, Nick Cagle, Allie Place, Christian Ribbe, Mark Maddock, John Acklin, Lexi Manning, Camryn McKee, Cassie Monk, Madeline DeJarnette, Nathan Scheule, Sarah Acklin, Alita Bachman, Molly Leichty, Skyler Price, Annalise Fritz, Miranda Hahn and Zea Maroon.
“It was a great experience,” Schacht said.