About

The Fourth Annual We the People National Invitational competition will be held April 29 - May 2, 2016. The competition will be conducted on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Middle school classes qualify to attend the National Invitational by participating in a simulated congressional hearing at the school, district, or state levels during the 2015-16 school year.

The National Invitational takes the form of simulated congressional hearing. During the hearings groups of students testify as constitutional experts before panels of judges acting as congressional committees. Each class is divided into six groups based on the six units of the We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution middle textbook. Each hearing begins with a four minute opening statement by students and is followed by a six minute period of follow-up questioning during which judges probe students' depth of knowledge, understanding and their ability to apply constitutional principles. Classes have the opportunity to compete or showcase at the event. The format provides students an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles while providing the judges with an excellent means of assessing students' knowledge and application to historical and current constitutional issues.