Formed in 1998, Maggie Walker’s We the People team holds an integral part of this school’s legacy, and this year proves to be no different. Led by Mr. Samuel Ulmschneider, the 2022-2023 We the People team participated in regional and state competitions, winning first place in both. This 25-year program has become a proven part of the school’s mission statement and not just a tradition. Further, Maggie Walker students have been working hard to achieve their goals in this course and have dedicated tremendous time and commitment.

We the People is a course offered at MLWGS for students to explore their interests in government. As Maggie Walker holds a strong focus on government and international studies, this course blends together history, political science, law, and constitutional philosophy to help students gain a better understanding of the world. Ulmschneider describes this course as one that “forces you to step outside the guardrails of AP recommended sources, cases, and formats to think for yourself.”

With 24 students taking part in the class, it is split into six units, where each group focuses on a different area relating to constitutional studies. Within the various groups, students often are assigned roles, where they focus on one certain part, like drafting papers or handling question and answer rounds. However, many share work equally and participate in brainstorming and practicing together. As there are several different groups within the class, each group divides work up in a way that works best for them.

In a We the People competition, the event mainly consists of debate and critical thinking. During the event, students participate in congressional hearings and testify as constitutional experts in front of a panel of judges. Students must prepare opening statements, complete practice rounds, and reference and study specific documents in order to respond to the questions asked. While a majority of the work is completed in class, students dedicate a worthy amount of time outside of class to prepare as well. As We The People is a student-based class, Ulmschneider acts as a “guide and aid in these steps by providing readings, acting as a practice judge, and giving editorial guidance.”

Taking place in Charlottesville, at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, the state competition was held between the winners and runner-ups from the previous regional competition. In terms of preparation, the units wrote two papers in response to prompts provided by the competition. It was also necessary that they prepare for the six-minute question and answer round, which would occur after the presentation of the papers. Mallory Phillips (‘23), a member of Unit 5, which focuses on rights and liberties, described the preparation efforts to involve intensive reading, studying, brainstorming, and drafting. Phillips’ group “wrote around nine drafts for each of [their] states papers.” Greta Shope (‘23), also in Unit 5, explained that aside from practice rounds, it became crucial to be able to “trust one another and have each other’s backs.” Their group was even able to create a language of silent hand gestures to figure out who would respond to each question.

With the intense amount of preparation, Phillips stated that it became natural for the students to fall into habits involving coordinating and organization. Aside from critical thinking skills, Shope states that this course has allowed her to develop her public speaking skills and “express [her] ideas more succinctly.” In addition, Phillips added that while students now have the ability to write “concise papers on complex topics,” they also learned valuable teamwork skills to achieve further success. Phillips describes the environment of the class to be one of “teamwork and camaraderie.” Almost as a forum, the classroom becomes an environment where sophisticated and often controversial questions regarding the American government are discussed. Shope also adds that the class “fosters a community where disagreement is tolerated, and changing your mind and opinion are encouraged.”

The Maggie Walker We the People team were rewarded an incredible amount of success for their hard work. This program has lasted generations, and Ulmschneider mentions, “I am carrying on the legacy of my own We The People coach when I was a student here at Maggie Walker, the invaluable Phillip Sorrentino.” Continuing on their journey, We the People will represent Virginia at the 36th Annual We the People National Finals on April 22-24, in Washington DC, and Maggie Walker wishes them all the best!