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We the People compete to know our rights at Silverado High School

AP Government is not only a class that prepares for the AP exam, but a class which integrates the We the People program. Some students are preparing to compete against other schools with judges asking them questions based on their comprehension of history.
“The mission is to make sure students know about their rights and how their government can positively or negatively affect them, and to create well-informed and skillful, knowledgeable citizens,” said teacher Melanie Pavlides.
Mrs. Pavlides is teaching AP U.S. government for her first time this year, preparing the students for their AP exam in May.
“Our main goal is to compete against other schools in mock congressional hearings and be able to apply out knowledge of history, documents, court cases, current events, and out opinions to them,” said Alexis Elge (12).
Many students are intrigued to learn with the different class activities that will help them to succeed in the competition and pass their AP exam.
“I enjoy when we get to read the lessons because it allows me to learn more of our government,” said Getsy Espinoza (12).
This class is taught at a college level so the students can understand about the country’s history. The most important thing is for the students to work as a team.
“I enjoy working in groups with my other classmates,” said Greyson Parker (12). “It makes it feel as if I’m not just on my own, and I have a team that I can lean on when I need to.”
They will be competing on Dec. 16 at Arbor View High School.
“We’ve been preparing speeches in response to the questions we’ll be asked at the competition,” said Carson Loosbrock (12).
History professors, lawyers and politicians will ask them questions about their speeches that they will be presenting. Mrs. Pavlides has been practicing with the students so they can do their very best and be prepared for the competition.
“They have to learn how to debate and have to learn about competition etiquette and how to write an argumentative speech as well as being knowledgeable on their given subject,” Pavlides said. “They also need to research numerous topics that go with their speech in order to be an expert on their topic.”
Students have been putting lots of hard work and effort into this upcoming competition.
“Mrs. Pavlides is great and is always encouraging us to do better, and we work with our peers as ‘one’ in order to come up with uniform speeches,” Espinoza said.
Mrs. Pavlides not only educates but also wants her students to be informed about their rights so they can make better decisions.
"I want my students to know their rights and their responsibilities so that the government can never infringe on them or take away their right to liberty and life and pursuit of happiness," Pavlides said. "I want to make sure l do a good job, so all my students in all of my classes know that they can live up to their greatest potential and be a part of my legacy as a teacher, educator, mentor and motivator."