EASTHAMPTON — The New England Patriots, the Boston Bruins, the Boston Red Sox — these are just some of the championship dynasties that have emerged from Massachusetts. Meanwhile, at Easthampton High School, a different kind of competitive dynasty is emerging on the state level that’s in its prime and headed for Washington, D.C.
Easthampton High School beat five other schools Saturday in the We the People State Finals, which was held in Boston at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. We the People is a nationwide civics competition that involves students giving opening statements in front of mock congressional committees on a variety of topics, and then answering questions from the committee.
“The reputation of this program goes into the middle school,” said Easthampton High School Principal William Evans. “People start putting this into their schedule early on, and they stay with the program long after they’ve left.”
This year’s state title is the school’s third victory in the competition in three years. Indeed, in the eight years Easthampton has competed, it has won four state finals. This year, Easthampton’s own Williston Northampton School was also the runner-up in the competition.
Not bad for what Easthampton High School junior and team member Chelsea Indyk described as “a little town in western Mass.”
The We the People team from Easthampton High will now be heading for the nation’s capital to compete in the 33rd annual national finals, which are going to be held in the National Conference Center this April.
Easthampton’s feat is perhaps even more impressive because students may only participate in the competition once.
“Makes our three-peat even more exciting,” said Kelley Brown, the program’s academic adviser. “Every year is a new set of students.”
Past competitors, however, haven’t been sitting on the sidelines. Instead, a tradition has developed with competition alumni helping each year’s current team. This also includes alumni who are in college, with one Easthampton High School alumna even Skyping in from Montana to help with the effort.
One of the alumna who helped out this year is senior Kerissa Bilski.
“It was the best experience of my life,” Bilski said. “Just getting to be part of a team like that.”
She also said that she and her team are “all still so close.”
Students in the competition are divided into six units. Each unit tackles a different category, such as “What Are the Philosophical and Historical Foundations of the American Political System?” or “What Rights Does the Bill of Rights Protect?” Students in each unit then have three questions that they prepare opening statements on, two of which they will give in the competition, although they only find out which two on the day of the contest. After each opening statement, they then answer questions on the topic from the committee they’re presenting to.
All Easthampton competitors must take Brown’s class “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution.” Both Brown and the class, which this year had 21 people in it, were praised by the students.
Cylie Kirejczyk, a junior on this year’s team, said that although she and her classmates sometimes want to “rip each others heads off,” because they are together all the time and have to work so closely together, “In the long run, it’s made us so much closer.”
“I feel so much more comfortable here than I do anywhere else,” Kirejczyk said.
Fellow junior teammate Miles Ellsworth is also enthusiastic about the experience.
“Whether we win or lose, I’ve learned so much through this class,” Ellsworth said.
To go to the national competition, the students are looking to raise $30,000, and have set up a GoFundMe to raise the money.
Last year, Easthampton High School finished 19th out of 56 teams at the national competition, the highest finish for a Massachusetts team in the competition’s history. This year, the students are shooting for an even bigger goal: cracking the top 10.
“I think we have a good chance at nationals this year,” said Mackenzie Bates, a junior.
Bilski also has high hopes for this year’s team.
“They’re way better than us,” she said.