LINDON -- Oak Canyon students in Curtis Nguyen's U.S. History Honors Prep classes have taken an active involvement in understanding our country's Constitution, Congress and government through their participation in the "We the People" program.

"We the People" is a nationwide program to promote civic competence and responsibility among students. Through the program, students prepare for and participate in a mock congressional hearing. As they study and prepare their presentations, students learn about the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the government, court cases and current events.

This year, students were put into teams to create four-minute speeches concerning topics such as John Locke's social contract, the federalist system of government and citizenship and civic duties. They also prepared to answer questions based on their speech topic.

Students first gave their speeches to their classes, which determined who would represent Oak Canyon at the district level. Then, at the district and state competitions, the students spoke to a panel of judges and then had a six-minute session in which they answered questions that the judges posed about their speeches.

This was Oak Canyon's first year of involvement in this program, Nguyen said. It was one of six schools that qualified to go on to the state finals, which were held last month.

"They competed against some veteran teams and made a strong impression on the judges," he said.

The school's final score was composed of six teams, Nguyen said. The team of Elizabeth McKnight, Nikki Reese, Sara Schulzke and Heather Shipp took first place in the category of Federalist System of Government.

The eighth-grade students enjoyed preparing for and presenting at the competition.

"I liked learning more about my country. I know more about how my country works," McKnight said.

Schulzke enjoyed her detailed study of our country's founding documents.

"I liked looking at the Constitution. I'm organized, and I like how it's divided into articles and sections," she said.

Although speaking to the judges was a bit intimidating at first, Reese said, "It was good knowing that we did a good job, and that we got to work together."

Shipp also liked learning more about the Constitution and putting her knowledge to the test.

Preparing and presenting their topics helped students to take the words they read on paper and apply them into their lives. He explained that students learned the importance of not just having an opinion, but finding facts to back up that opinion.

Participation enabled the students to research, study and make choices. Not only did they have to work as a team to prepare their topic, they had to edit their information into a four-minute presentation and then spend six minutes responding, without using notes, to questions posed to them by the panel of judges.

Nguyen added that the additional effort the students made through their participation in "We the People" would benefit them throughout their lives.

"Kids who do 'We the People' tend to participate in civics a lot more as adults. They will vote, run for office. They'll actually make a difference," he said.