2 Henrico schools to serve as Virginia's representatives in national 'We the People' competition

Freeman High School, which won its third state championship in the civics-based competition, and Glen Allen High School, which was the state runner-up for the second time, will advance to the national competition, which is hosted by the Center for Civic Education.

The event challenges students to answer questions about key constitutional principles and deliver speeches about the topics they are given. The teams are broken up into six units, and each one must prepare a four-minute speech about their individual topics, such as immigration, natural rights, and state sovereignty. The speeches are delivered to a panel of judges, who then engaged in an eight-minute question-and-answer session with students and evaluate their knowledge and skills.

Freeman High School, under the direction of Rob Peck (director of the Center for Leadership, Government and Global Economics at the school), has qualified for the national event eight times in the past 12 years and finished third nationally in 2022.

Glen Allen High School advanced to the national event for the first time in 2021.

"It is very special to represent Henrico with Freeman," said Ryan Conway, a history teacher at Glen Allen who helps lead his school's team along with government teacher and Virginia state senator Schuyler VanValkenburg. "To be honest, our region of Virginia has had three of the strongest 'We the People' programs for a long time. Although this program is competitive, ultimately, the big picture is that students learn what it means to be an active citizen. And this program does that consistently."

"I'm really proud of both teams," said Peck. "... While they were competing against one another, what was most impressive to me was the encouragement they were giving to each other. They are friends and classmates first and took genuine pride in one another's accomplishments. As a teacher, it was amazing to watch."