FHS students competing at state citizenship competition

COLUMBUS — Local high school students have been preparing for the 2026 We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution State Competition, coming up Friday, Jan. 23, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Over 150 students from eight different schools will participate, including a team from Findlay High School. Findlay High School's 2025 We the People competition team took first place in the state of Ohio last year at the Jan. 31, 2025 contest, making eight years in a row at the top for the group. Advised by teachers Mark Dickman and Austin Fox, FHS' state victory was not only its eighth in a row, but also its 33rd out of the last 38 state competitions. Next week, this year's squad will take on students from seven other schools who've been training for the competition. Students will showcase their understanding of constitutional principles by presenting and evaluating positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues, a release from the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education, which runs the competition, states. After providing prepared answers to competition questions, students will then answer follow-up questions in the format of simulated legislative hearings. Competition judges include college professors, attorneys and other community leaders. Expanding a practice of the past several years, OCLRE has included a special question for the Ohio students to tackle based on the state constitution in each of the six units covered by the competition. "The decision to add an Ohio Constitution question to each unit came as part of OCLRE's ongoing attempt to better connect We the People to Ohio students through the Ohio state standards," said Danielle Rains, We the People program coordinator. "We work closely with an advisory group of teachers who encouraged us to make changes that would help them meet the standards for American Government in Ohio, as well as helping their students learn more about how our state government and state constitution function. We're proud to put a Buckeye twist on a national program!" The state champion will represent Ohio at the We the People National Finals, hosted by the Center for Civic Education April 17-19 in Washington, D.C. OCLRE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with the mission of improving society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of America's democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General's Office, Ohio State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation. In Ohio, We the People is funded in part by a grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. For more information, please visit www.oclre.org/we-the-people.