Southwest We the People students advance to nationals; hold successful fundraising dinner

Members of the Southwest We the People team said they unexpectedly advanced from their state mock congressional hearing competition to the national finals and raised funds at a school-hosted dinner to help pay for the trip.

Student 1, a member of the Southwest We the People team, described the structure of the competition: "We the People is a mock congressional hearing competition in which students are separated into different units, each unit having sort of a different purpose and topic that they work through, and they each get presented with these questions that they'll have to work through and sort of answer through a testimony." The student said team members prepare year-round "for any possible questions that could be asked relating to their testimony that they create throughout the year."

Another team member, identified in the transcript as Student 2, said the state judges tested the team's knowledge by posing cross questions during the state round: "We presented them to judges at state in which they gave us cross questions or asked us about questions about the speech to test our knowledge." The student added that advancing to nationals felt "surreal," saying, "When I heard that we were going to nationals, I mean, it felt surreal. Like, it felt really unexpected. Yeah. I'm really excited that we can go to nationals. Like, this is surreal and I'm so, like, excited that we get to go."

Mr. Giuliano, instructor of the Southwest We the People team, spoke at the team's "dine and discuss" fundraising dinner and credited the school's culinary program for helping run the event. "The dine and discuss was a huge success. From top to bottom, our school's culinary program came through big," Mr. Giuliano said, adding that the event modeled civil discourse beyond the classroom.

The transcript records no formal motions, votes, or school-board actions tied to the fundraising or the team's advance to nationals. It does not specify the date or location of the state competition, nor the size of funds raised at the dinner. The team members and instructor framed the dinner as a community fundraising event to support travel to the national competition.

Students and instructors said they will continue preparing for nationals. Student 2 closed remarks at the event by saying, "This is our moment. And when the time comes, we will be ready. Now, let's go make it straight. Thank you."