On Friday, April 11 at 9 p.m. ET, the Lincoln Constitution Team was announced as third place at the national finals in D.C. Fisher’s High School from Indiana placed second, and the two-member team from Sprague High School in Oregon placed first. The team advanced to the national competition after winning the state competition in Portland in January.
After two intense days of competition, Lincoln advanced to the top ten teams out of 48.
Sophomore Sadie Copeland is on Unit Five, which covers topics like the Bill of Rights and civil rights and civil liberties, such as the freedom of speech.
“On the third day, the overall energy was great. All of the units had great chemistry and their answers flowed together really well,” said Copeland. “No unit had a bad round, which was really great to see. Everyone was excited not just because of the idea of possibly placing [in the top three] but also pride.”
Copeland emphasized that her favorite part of Constitution Team is the community.
“Even if one person messed up no one made them feel bad. I think it was really great to see support from our own team…because they really understand what it’s like to be up there and how stressful it is,” said Copeland.
Sophomore Elise Chan-Kai agreed and found some of the best parts of nationals to be DoorDashing Boba and studying with friends. She chose to be a part of Unit Four which mainly covers the workings of the U.S. government. She chose Unit Four because it allowed more opportunities for independent work than other units. She decided to join Constitution Team because she wanted to learn more about law.
“I’m really proud of the things I’ve learned. We didn’t get first at nationals which is heartbreaking because of all the research and time put into this. However, with that I built a lot of knowledge that will be useful later,” said Chan-Kai.
While challenging and time-consuming, Chan-Kai found Constitution Team to be a valuable experience.
“Con team is truly something that pushes you to the edge, getting frustrated with people on your unit or just being overworked, but the sad thing is after it all being over, I really feel like I wish I could do it again,” said Chan-Kai.