The Bakersfield Voice

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For their 18th birthdays, students in Centennial High School’s U.S. Government classes receive a special gift. It isn’t lottery tickets or a free homework pass. It’s something that the faculty of the Social Studies department thinks is the best birthday present the students will ever receive.

It is a voter registration form.

“Voting is an obligation of their citizenship,” said Ryan Coleman, department chair and the school’s We the People adviser.

Voting, jury duty and civic engagement are staple roles of U.S. citizenry, and Coleman ensures that all seniors understand civic duty before they graduate.

Coleman, 35, has been teaching at Centennial for 13 years, and 11 of those years have been directly involved with We the People.

We the People is a civic education program established in 1987 as part of the Bicentennial Commission’s attempt to develop a lasting celebration of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Rather than parades, flags and bunting bedecked ships, they created a permanent program that would actively engage elementary and secondary students in civic education not by testing them on it — but by immersing them in it.

“Students do analysis of the Constitution and hold a mock hearing, during which they must deliver a speech before a panel of judges, then be quizzed on information they presented during the speech,” said Coleman. “They become experts on the Constitution.”

Coleman should know. In 1990, sitting in a desk at East High School, his government teacher, David Richmond, broke the news to his class that they all would be participating competitively in We the People.

“It had been my intent to teach history,” said Coleman, but once he experienced Richmond’s civic passion and inspiration, his college major changed to political science.

To Richmond, a 20-year veteran of the program and now the State Coordinator, Coleman’s enthusiasm for civic government isn’t a big surprise. Many former We the People students become civically engaged, he said.

“We have the highest number of (former) students working in service to the federal government than any other civic program,” said Richmond, pointing to political aides, White House interns, congressional aides and aides to senators.

Kern County, as it turns out, has the top We the People program west of the Mississippi, according to both Coleman and Richmond.

“As a community, we need to pat ourselves on the back,” said Richmond, expressing that Kern County has played a crucial role in preparing its students for the modern era of civic engagement.

“In the ’80s and ’90s, young people turned off on the system,” he said. Today, Richmond says, it’s different, with so many schools participating in the program.

Twelve high schools in Kern County currently participate in We the People, a program that is folded seamlessly into the college prep version of the U.S. Government course each student must take to graduate from high school.

“It is the government curriculum, not a special program like Mock Trial or Academic Decathlon. It is not extra-curricular … it’s a class,” said Richmond.

As a member of the 2008 Centennial class that took second place in the state competition, Elizabeth Yates said that We the People was her most intellectual high school experience.

“It was not only a challenging academic experience, but it also taught me the importance of civic virtue and giving back to the community.”

In Kern County, of the 12 high schools that send teams to We the People competitions, the most decorated come from Centennial and Arvin high schools.

“Our two predominate teams couldn’t come from two more diverse areas,” said Richmond, who explains that socioeconomics has nothing to do with a school’s success. “Given the right teachers and the right set of curriculum, every kid can have a successful program.”

In the 11 years Centennial has participated in We the People, they won the 22nd District competition 10 times; took the state title four times; and placed third nationally in 1998 and 1999.

It appears the school has a secret.

“They have to have a certain level of passion,” said Coleman.

Youth and passion are a reliable combination. If the ultimate goal of We the People is to foster lifelong civic participation, then the historic election of 2008 must have some of the program’s graduates pining for the polls.

For Elizabeth, now a first-year college student, the class made a significant impact.

“I voted in the presidential primary, and I will definitely vote on Nov. 4,” she said.

She even knew the date. The program must be working.

The public is invited to attend the 2008-09 We the People regional competition Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. on the CSUB campus. For more information on the We the People program, visit: www.cawtp.com.