By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org
East Kentwood’s American Political Thought students brought home top honors from the We the People District Finals which were hosted at Kent ISD last week.
The school’s team, which includes 21 seniors, finished second overall with several groups within the team also receiving first and second place awards.
Lucy Fornetti, Mary Johnakech, and Owen Lawrence received first place for their analysis of the American version of the rule of law and international perceptions of the system.
Taking second place were Bianca Bancifra, Maggie Fisher, Keaton Nguyen, and Sarah Chapin for their explanations of the philosophical underpinnings of American constitutionalism. Also taking second place are Andrew Dame, Rebecca Moore and Mike Nguyen for their understanding of the evolution of Congress’ powers and limitations on them.
To prepare, the East Kentwood team accumulated 55 hours of practice time with coaches outside of the school day in addition to time spent preparing for those sessions on their own. Coaches volunteered their time to help prepare the team for the variety of aspects of the competition — which includes presentation and public speaking skills along with an incredible depth of knowledge in constitutional law, philosophy, politics, American history and current events.
The team is currently working on new content in preparation for Jan. 6 when they will travel to Michigan State University’s College of Law for the State Finals. The first place team at the State Finals will earn an invitation to represent the state of Michigan in the National Finals in late April. For the 2021-2022 school year, the East Kentwood team took second at the State Finals with East Grand Rapids taking the top spot.
