For the sixth straight year, Trumbull has the most constitutionally astute high school students in the state.
On Dec. 9, the AP/ECE Government class of 24 seniors and teacher Katie Boland won the state championship for the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition at Central Connecticut State University. The competition involved classes making presentations and answering questions on constitutional topics.
Trumbull High School competed against teams from St. Joseph’s High School, Greenwich High School, Immaculate High School, South Windsor High School, and Staples High School (Westport).
The team now advances to the national finals, to be held in Washington, D.C., from April 21 to 24, to compete against teams from all over the country. Last year Trumbull finished in eighth place.
Team members Kate Burns and Cristina Catana credited attorney Andrew Gladstein, a 2002 graduate of Trumbull High, with getting them prepared for the rigorous questioning the competition entailed.
“The opportunity to work with Andy and his law firm was awesome, and seeing all of the knowledge that Andy has blows us all away and makes me want to be a lawyer one day,” Kate said.
Cristina said she felt as if Gladstein was part of the team.
“It’s not every day you get to call up a lawyer at 9 at night because you’re curious about the Fourth Amendment and its implications,” she said. “Andy’s experience and knowledge allowed us to delve much deeper into what we were learning about.”
Jacob Fried said delivering a 10-minute presentation that was months in the making was a surreal experience.
“After so much practicing, researching and bonding with my fellow teammates, those 10 minutes of competition flew by,” he said. “I don’t think I can remember what questions they asked or how my team responded, but I do clearly remember the passion with which we spoke, the pride the entire class had for themselves and each other, and the sense of community that filled the room with teachers, family, and friends cheering us all on.”
The team members are Connor Bailo, Spencer Biebel, Kate Burns, Cristina Catana, Abigail Conroy, Ezgi Erken, Victoria Estacio, Emily Fox, Jacob Fried, Jennifer Hance, Benjamin Johnson, Colby Laracuente, Marielle Leonard, David Marchenko, Nicholas Marchenko, Dylan McCaffery, Giridhar Murali, Emma Roca, Lucas Schulz, Rebecca Socha, Evelyn Stelman, Anush Sureshbabu, Keerthi Yalamanchili, and Ajshe Zulfi.