BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — An event with nearly 250 local high school students were tested on the U.S. Constitution during the annual ‘We the People’ Congressional Hearings at Golden Valley High School.
Centennial High School won the regional competition and will move on to the state championships to be held on Feb. 5, 2022. West was originally reported as the winner but a scoring error was discovered over the weekend by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office and it was determined that Centennial was the actual winner. Because West and Arvin high schools scored high enough, each has received wildcard invitations to the state competition.
The competition, which was hosted by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, consisted of teams competing for a chance to win either the 21st or 23rd Congressional District title.
Centennial, East, South, Liberty, Ridgeview, and West high schools made up the 23rd Congressional District, while those representing the 21st Congressional District were teams from Arvin, Golden Valley, and Mira Monte.
Each team individually presented testimony in two rounds of six mock congressional hearings. Congressional committees, consisting of community scholars and civic leaders, posed one of three study questions to the students prior to the competition.
Each team was allowed four minutes to present testimony. Then, for an additional six minutes, teams answered questions posed by judges involving constitutional issues raised by events in history. The combined totals of all six team units determined the winner.
