WVU Law hosts 73 students in District 2 civics contest
High schoolers from three schools compete for a slot in the state championship held in December.
By Noor Graham ·
West Virginia University College of Law hosts a regional civic education competition on Thursday morning in Morgantown.
Seventy-three high school students compete for a place in the state championship, which serves as a qualifier for the national tournament scheduled for April 2027.
Patrice Snow, senior director of marketing and communications at WVU, said the event opens at approximately 9:15 a.m., contingent on the arrival of school buses. The closing ceremony is set for 11:30 a.m.
The participating schools include 26 students from Brooke County High School, 34 from Morgantown High School, and 13 from Robert C. Byrd High School. All competitors prepare using the textbook "We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution." U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Aloi serves as the judge and assists with the awards ceremony.
Snow described the program as a method for students to demonstrate constitutional knowledge under pressure. "High school students from the area who will be competing for this honor so they could compete in the state competition later this year and they could then compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C., in April of 2027," Snow said.
The Center for Civic Education's We the People program begins in elementary schools and continues through high school. Snow stated that the curriculum builds skills such as examining evidence and listening across differences. "We can’t expect people to vote and understand our civic system at 18 if they haven’t been given the tools to do so," Snow said.
Winners from the Thursday event advance to the state competition at the U.S. District Court in Charleston on December 16. National finalists will compete in Washington, D.C., from April 17 through 19, 2027. Snow noted that the program marks its 40th anniversary during the national competition month.
