By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — Staples High School will represent the state as a wildcard participant in the national “We The People” competition in Washington, D.C., in April.

The team was named co-state champion with Trumbull High School earlier this month after tying with the state’s perennial powerhouse in the civics event. Staples also won two of six units in the competition, securing its wildcard slot.

“We had a strong group this year,” said Suzanne Kammerman, a Staples history teacher and team coach. “They were really focused, put in the work and did what needed to happen.”

Unlike a debate, the competition simulates a congressional hearing with students playing the role of witnesses.

The 19-member Staples team, all but two of them juniors, prepared responses to six questions related to American democracy and the Constitution.

Without notes in front of them, student discuss topics such as the Second Amendment, the philosophical and historical foundations of the American political system and how the constitution has been changed to further the ideas in the Declaration of Independence.

“It’s content that is well beyond what you would expect of high school students,” said Kammerman. “They dive into legal briefs and academic journals” to prepare.

Organized by the Center for Civic Education, the competition also manages to rise above partisan politics, according to the advisor.

“I love when you hear a judge say, ‘I don’t agree with that stand, but I respect how you supported that argument with analysis and evidence,’ ” Kammerman said. “It’s a great learning experience that we can talk about these topics.”

Each unit is scored based on how well students are judged to understand the topics.

At this year’s state competition, held Feb. 3, Staples and Trumbull both ended up with point totals of 1,453 with Trumbull receiving the first-place nod by winning four out of six topics.

Katie Boland, coach for the Trumbull High team called Kammerman awesome.

“She’s such a passionate educator,” Boland said. “The competition is always tough in Connecticut between Staples and Trumbull.”

This year, the Connecticut Democracy Center and Yale University partnered to judge the state competition. Boland called it national-level judging at the state level.

“This will bode well for both teams as we prepare for nationals in April,” Boland said. “I love having the two teams representing the Constitution State.”

National finals will feature 48 winners and runners-up from 29 states, according to the competition website.

The Westport team has secured a wild card slot for the national competition several times.

In 2020, Staples was the state champ and went on to place fifth nationally. That year, the competition was held remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staples has been to nationals six times since the program was introduced to the school by Kammerman in 2014 as part of the AP U.S. Government and Politics class.

“I thought this is the perfect program for Staples High School,” Kammerman said. “There are so many students who are bright and hardworking and really do love studying government and politics.”

As a student at Shelton High School, Kammerman participated in the We the People competition. The year was 1993 and Shelton went to the national competition that year.

“I remember it being a memorable moment from high school,” Kammerman said.

Like most teams in the competition, Staples has a number of individuals, including program alumni and attorneys, who help students prepare.

All are Westport residents, Kammerman said. They include: Danielle Dobin, a lawyer and Board of Finance member; lawyer Andy Laskin; Quinnipiac history professor Ntia Prasad, whose three children participated in the program, and lawyer Jaimie Dockray, whose daughter participated in the program.

For nationals, there will be new topics and questions to tackle, but Kammerman said it’s a little easier knowing the team got through the process at the state level.

The competition lasts two days, three if the team makes it into the top 10. Last year, Trumbull placed eighth nationally.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s really rewarding,” Kammerman added.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.