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ROB SCHUPBACH (TEACHER): Izzy?

IZZY: Here!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Landon, Jaden. Layla is here. We are waiting on Zade.

ROB SCHUPBACH: So, the Holy Roman Catholic Empire – neither Holy, nor Roman, nor Catholic, nor Empire. Discuss.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

Each year, high schools across America compete in a civics competition.

It’s called We the People.

IZZY: This year definitely feels like it’s going faster than it should. I turn 18 in March and then I graduate in May, and I don’t think I realized just how close all these big things are together.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

Teams are questioned on their understanding of how our democracy works.

ROB SCHUPBACH: I have been working with and mentoring to get them ready for the competition. But it’s kind of like in theater, when you are the director and the show goes up. You are done. My students are ready. They’re ready to go.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

Only the best teams will advance to the National Finals.

LAYLA: We are like 30 min away. I just try to calm myself down, I try to think you know this, don’t overthink it. I really want to win.

IZZY:  Oh my God, we are already here?! Whoa!

TITLE CARD:

A RETRO REPORT SERIES: CITIZEN NATION

TEXT ON SCREEN:

WEST VIRGINIA 

IZZY: I grew up on a farm right here in Tyler County. We’ve never moved. And we have a lot of woods around us. So this is a holler, so it’s between two ridges. So that’s a ridge line. And this is a ridge line, even though they’re not mountains, we’ll still call it a holler.

IZZY (WITH HER HORSE): Hi, Black.

IZZY: Sistersville was a town founded in the oil boom. The oil and gas companies, they bought the rights to the land. It’s pipelines, oil  trucks. It’s well sites, mineral rights, and that’s an issue. It’s a lot of traffic. The bridge, it has sank like two inches from the trucks. It’s not good for the environment. But we can’t just rip it out of from under us. We don’t have a fallback. So it’s not a great… uh, it’s raining.

IZZY (CHEERING AT A SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME): Go! Go! Go! Let’s go Silver Knights! Go!

IZZY: Oil and gas it’s always been funding our county. They give the school the money off the tax returns and they spend it on things like our football field. They redid all of our sports facilities. The field alone, I think cost $9.5 million dollars. We wouldn’t have any of this without their funding.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

TYLER CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL 

ROB SCHUPBACH (TO THE STUDENTS): Gentlemen, do you all have your ties? Did you get one? You got a tie, you got a tie?

ROB SCHUPBACH: We are currently at the end of October and anxiously awaiting the district two competition here in West Virginia for We the People.

HARLEY: Why is this so intricate? 

IZZY: This? This is our opening? Okay, okay.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Yeah. That is your opening statement. This…

IZZY: Is questions.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Yes.

IZZY: Okay.

IZZY: Last week, somebody said, we compete in a month. We all got short circuited for a minute, like, the whole classroom went silent, like, oh my God. We are freaking out, we are like this cannot be right. Right? And then we are like, no.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Let’s do that. He broke with the Catholic Church in the 1530s, this whole thing here, why don’t we take that out?

LAYLA: We don’t have, like, a whole lot of time and I just feel like I’m underprepared.

JADEN: I think if you want to answer a question hands go on the table, when you are done you take them off.

ADDISON: Who is timing?

ROB SCHUPBACH: Ready? Begin.

IZZY: The people that are currently still afraid of a strong central government are usually scared of losing their state’s rights.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Good.

IZZY: I don’t want to mess it up. I don’t want to be the one person whose fault it is that we did not make it to states.

SYDNEY (TYING HIS TIE): Baby tie, baby tie!

HARLEY: Babies first than a tie, oh my God.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Hey everybody, also. . .

HARLEY: I got it!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Right now, what I need you to do is to focus on me. A few reminders, does anyone need a permission slip?

IZZY: They are gonna come open. You told me, I said it,  and you still said throw it!

HARLEY: Can I figure out how to do this, instead of those note cards? Because this will be just as challenging. Giving up on learning from GI. . .

ROB SCHUPBACH: Ahhhh. I am okay. Ahhh. Sorry, I just have to have a little bit of nicotine. I am trying to energize them and rallying that kind of energy is tough right now because there is a lot going on. And some of them are not in a good  area, not in a good  mental space. And when you try to put more learning into a brain that already has an amygdala that is going five hundred miles an hour, it’s hard to calm that down and focus on the competition.        

ROB SCHUPBACH (TO THE STUDENTS): I want you all to remember one thing, you all have your intelligences. And I really want you to show that. I want you to show these judges how good you are. Your personalities must shine through. All of you. Got it?

LAYLA (AT HOME WITH HER FAMILY): Do you need anything else from inside besides the eggs?

CURT GEORGE: I don’t think so.

LAYLA: Okay, I will be back.

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): I live with my uncle Curt and his girlfriend, their three children. And they have another little boy on the way.

LAYLA: He’s had eight slices of bacon.

JONAH (LAYLA’S COUSIN): I love bacon! That’s why!

LAYLA: I know, you love bacon!

LAYLA: My mom moved up to Moundsville. There’s more jobs in bigger places. I just finish out my school year here. My mom –I am very close with. And it was really hard for her to move away because we are very dependent on each other.

This is very, very personal but when I was ten years old my dad had gotten into a lot of trouble and I had to be sat down. My mom explained to me that he had made some bad choices and he is addicted to drugs. He was going to have to go away for a little while. We had my birthday moved a month so I did not have to see him go to jail. Then he missed my tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteen, fourteenth, fifteenth birthday. I stepped up and helped my mom with my brother. By the time I was ten I was doing my laundry, all by myself, twelve I started paying my phone bill. Today, my dad lives five hours away and he works for a carpentry company. I was raised to be very independent.

IZZY (SITTING AROUND A SMALL FIRE): I am quite toasty by the fire.

ADDISON: Everything’s warm.

JADEN: My toes are also cold.

ADDISON: My blanket… help!

SYDNEY: Don’t worry Meemaw.

FRIEND: We got you, Meemaw!

LAYLA: Aiden, do you know my dad dated your mom after high school?

AIDEN: Did you know that my mom dated Mrs. Riggs’ big brother?

LAYLA: Bob Riggs? Do you know that my grandma dated Bob Riggs?

IZZY: Who hasn’t your grandma dated!?

LAYLA: Hey! Hey!

IZZY (IN INTERVIEW): Pretty much everybody in my grade, you know them from the moment you’re born. So I bet you your parents are friends and you go through elementary school, preschool, kindergarten, middle school, high school together. Then you graduate. Then if you don’t leave this area, you’re gonna know them the rest of your life too.

IZZY: I saw somebody drink Ohio river water. They’re going to come out, like, glowing.

SYDNEY: Oh, yeah. I don’t even go on like boats anymore.

MATT: We were drinking the tap water, but it tasted so bad, we just put Kool-Aid stuff and drank it.

JADEN: One time the water went bad. And I had been drinking it for weeks and nobody told me. That’s why I don’t get sick, guys. I’m just built different.

JADEN: We connect through trauma. We have similar experiences. And it’s nice being able to talk to somebody and being able to be vulnerable with them instead of having to have this like, oh, I’m perfectly fine. It’s nice to have someone that you can be like, yeah, I’m not doing so well.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

NEVADA

ETHAN (IN INTERVIEW): I think in the United States and in other countries, there’s a lot of people who are looking out for their own interests, who are looking out to improve their own financial situations. I try not to let all the issues that our world is facing right now eat away at me. I really want to be a lawyer someday and eventually a politician because politics, to me, is about finding the ways in which we can produce a better world.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

SOUTHWEST CAREER AND TECHNICAL ACADEMY

JOE JULIANO (TEACHER, SPEAKING TO THE STUDENTS): Unit 6, so these are your stands, you guys are official congressional experts now.

JOE JULIANO (IN INTERVIEW): We are preparing for districts now. And if we do well enough, we will qualify for the state competition, and if we do well at state we’ll be lucky enough to go to Washington, DC, for the National Competition.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

FINAL REHEARSAL BEFORE DISTRICT COMPETITION

STUDENTS: Unit 2!

JOE JULIANO: Alright, everybody, I think we are ready to get started here, all rise!

ETHAN: Today we are doing a dress rehearsal and we are going to have some pretty prominent figures in here. Some people who’ve judged for We The People before.

JUDGE: You can begin whenever you are ready.

ETHAN (IN THE DRESS REHEARSAL): Our base human temperaments necessitate the establishment of the Constitutional Government, defined by. . .

ETHAN: The way this competition works is 4 minutes is going to be a prepared speech that we’ve been practicing for the last few months.

ETHAN (IN THE DRESS REHEARSAL): System that is of the people, by the people and for the people. . .

ELI (IN THE DRESS REHEARSAL): Former Attorney General WIlliam Barr used legal maneuvers to avoid pressing charges against him.

ELI: You have something prepared, you give your speech and now, you are basically cross examined.

JUDGE: What would you say to somebody that says, government doesn’t listen or the government doesn’t represent me? In today’s age many people feel that way.

ETHAN (IN THE DRESS REHEARSAL): I can empathize with the idea that our voices are not being completely heard.

ETHAN: The hardest part of the hearings is definitely the cross examination because there is no preparing for it. Obviously, you can work up your content knowledge, but at the end of the day you really never know what kinds of questions the judges are going to ask.

JUDGE: Let’s go Israel and Palestine. What are your thoughts about the rules that are specifically being broken in this war?

ETHAN: The judges asked a few questions about the Israel Palestine conflict which I really think caught some of the units off guard.

STUDENT: We see with Palestine and Gaza, when President Joe Biden said that the Israeli people beheaded, I believe it was forty. . .

STUDENT: Um, clubs, like clubs in support of Palestine, or clubs in support of, um, of. . .

ELI: If they receive a news article alert the day of, they might ask you about it, so you’re gonna have to give them the impression that you know what you are talking about, even if you are a little insecure about the topic. So, you can’t, you can’t falter.

JUDGE: Guys, every single one of you, the Israeli/Palestine conflict, what is happening, brush up on that. Just bring more current events to life. Practice, practice, practice! Anyone who will listen to you, talk to them. Go over it, go over it, go over it.

HANNA: I was thinking about the other schools, like how much knowledge do they have. Are they having the same emotions as us, like are they also nervous?

TEXT ON SCREEN: 

VIRGINIA

CADEN (IN THE CLASSROOM): The idea of gridlock is perhaps the Senate doing its job too well. The Senate was intended to be the more deliberative body but these days, due to the filibuster, all of the stuff that the House tries to pass gets locked up in the Senate. And is unable to progress any further.

STUDENT: I would also like to elaborate that the existence of the filibuster incredibly demotivates compromise because. . .

CADEN: Our We The People team is one of the best in the nation. I think that’s pretty universally agreed on. And so it’s like, what if we don’t win? Like, what if the other teams beat us and we’re the ones who let down this multiple decades long reputation of always winning? It’s a lot of pressure.

STUDENT: What you did wrong was you skipped the answer and then talked about the effects of the historical precedent.

STUDENT: Caden then immediately started with the answer to the question. So you guys adjusted well throughout the round.

STUDENT: Make sure you know about like, Tommy Tuberville and like how unspoken. . .

STUDENT: And, Caden, also, your answer about the filibuster was good, but you could have answered it in less words.

STUDENT: Don’t filibuster in a thing about filibustering.

CADEN (WALKING HIS DOG): Calm down.

RADIO HOST 1: One of the other states we’re watching closely is Virginia where the legislative race. . .

RADIO HOST 2: This is the race in Virginia! November 7th. . .

RADIO HOST 1: In Senate District 16 Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg. . .

RADIO HOST 3: Closely scrutinized across the country for hints of what might come in next year’s 2024 presidential cycle.

CADEN: I hope you don’t mind. I’m solving parts of your crossword. All of the easy ones are gone! Little wonder. . .  Steve, oh! Stevie Wonder. What’s the plan today?

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG (CADEN’S FATHER): Precincts all day. And then see you hopefully at the victory party tonight?

CADEN: Yes, I will be there.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: With your sisters. Mm. So how about yourself?

CADEN: Vote and bring the sisters to the party. That’s basically my whole day.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: All Right. Voting, first time voting.

CADEN: Yes.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG:  How are you feeling about it? You’re voting for me, right?

CADEN: I haven’t decided yet.

CADEN: Today is obviously the Election Day, but it’s also my 18th birthday, which is cool. My birthday is on Election Day every six years. I was born on Election Day, turned six on Election Day, turned 12 on Election Day, 18, and presumably in the future 24, 30 and all of those other birthdays that follow.

CADEN: I’m relieved that it’s almost over.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: Do you know who to vote for for all the local races?

CADEN: Not all of the candidates. No, not on top of my head.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: You better check that before you go vote.

CADEN: Okay. Duly noted.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: Okay!

CADEN: I will look it up.

CADEN (WALKING INTO THE POLLING PLACE): Good morning.

CADEN: You know, I am 18. I am now legally an adult, which means I have to handle a lot of things now that I didn’t have to deal with before. I get to vote for once. But it’s a mixture of like excitement from, like getting to vote and also just kind of like kind of slight disappointment that my dad’s not there for it. But eh, expectation, it happens.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG (SPEAKING TO PROSPECTIVE VOTERS) : How’s it going, sir? Schuyler VanValkenburg, I would love to earn your vote for state senate. Hey, I would love to earn your vote. Schuyler!

VOTER: Democrat? You got it!

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG (ON THE PHONE): How have the doors been? How have the doors been?

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG: We’ve spent the last year knocking on thousands upon thousands of doors and spending a lot of money on advertising, but at the end of the day, it’s not in your hands, right? It’s in the voters hands.

RADIO/ TV HOST: Every race is tied. I’ve never seen races like this. Everything is tied, so we have no idea what’s going to happen.

CADEN: Yep. I am very nervous for my dad. I mean, it’s stressful that he might not win.

We’ll see.

RADIO/ TV HOST: So we do have some information that is coming in.

RADIO/ TV HOST: In Senate District 16, Democrat Schuyler VanValkenburg is the projected winner over Republican Siobhan Dunnavant.

CADEN: Sure. It means I don’t get to celebrate as much my birthday on the actual day, but I don’t blame him for having the election take priority because that’s a thing that’s much bigger in the grand scheme of things.

SCHUYLER VANVALKENBURG (SPEAKING TO HIS SUPPORTERS): Anybody that’s in public service knows that you can’t do it without your family, I don’t think they have seen me for a weekend in like a year, and so I get to have a weekend with them this weekend and we get to celebrate a victory!

TEXT ON SCREEN:

WEST VIRGINIA

LAYLA (AT WORK): Boggs Pizza, kids pepperoni roll? Okay, I will put that in for you, I would give it probably about 40 minutes.

ADDISON: Would you like a Mountain Dew tea to drink?

CUSTOMER: Sweet tea.

ADDISON: Sweet tea.

CUSTOMER: Sweet tea.

ADDISON: And sweet tea. Ok.

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): I’ve felt always very lost when anyone would ask me the question of what are you going to do when you grow up?

ADDISON: Boggs Pizza.

LAYLA: And in my sophomore year of high school, a girl in the We The People class, said, you know, you’d make a really good O.B.G.Y.N. And I said, why do you say that? And she said, you are just someone you could trust. And I said, I think I would love that.

ADDISON: $4.11, oh, thank you!

LAYLA: Matt, why don’t you show your paycheck? It’s $23.38. This is two full weeks of work and that’s six shifts, so that’s 18 hours.

ADDISON: Yep, same. Mine is $26.01.

LAYLA: $23.38 for 16 hours worth of work.

LAYLA (COUNTING HER TIPS): Fifteen. . .But that doesn’t include tips.

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): I feel like my mom has made a huge sacrifice by raising us on our own. So I need to be something extraordinary. I am really looking forward to getting that higher education because it’s exciting. No one in my family has really experienced that. My parents did not go to college, none of my grandparents went to college. It’s very anxiety inducing, but it’s definitely something I know that has to happen.

ROB SCHUPBACH (TO THE STUDENTS): Hi. Hi. How is the stress level right now?

IZZY: Ah, stress level? High!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Why?

IZZY: College. If it relates to college in some way, I am stressed about it. FAFSA is not gonna come out till like December 31st.

LAYLA: Makes me lose it.

IZZY: Makes me lose it. I’m gonna say not nice things about FAFSA.

LAYLA: I think my biggest stress is FAFSA.

IZZY: FAFSA is like the top three stressors.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Don’t worry. We’ll get there. I know it’s kind of stressful.

ROB SCHUPBACH (IN INTERVIEW): I think many of them stay up late at night, worried about college. How am I gonna pay for it? And with FAFSA the Free Application for Federal Student Aid being pushed back to December of 2023, there is a lot of frayed nerves of where is my tuition money going to come from. Because they simply don’t have it.

LAYLA: I’ve enrolled in W.V.U., and I contacted them and asked them if they would waive my fees because I could not pay out of my pocket right now and they said no. And they have a deadline in November to secure your spot, you had to pay these deposits. The fees of food passes, parking and housing it’s going to be around 75 thousand dollars for 6 years of college. That doesn’t seem like a crazy amount for six years of college but in West Virginia’s economy, it especially is very expensive.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Are you looking forward to the competition?

IZZY: Mixed feelings.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Mixed feelings.

IZZY: Mixed feelings. I want to do really good. And I want to get to nationals, internationals, whatever is the highest level, like I want to go all the way and do good but I am also like, I need a break.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Yeah. Alright, without further ado ladies and gentlemen, let’s practice as if we are really doing this thing. That is what rehearsal is. The judges walk in, the justices walk in, and go.

LAYLA: The Philadelphia convention was called to order on May 25th 1787 to address the weak central government that existed under the articles of confederation.

IZZY (IN INTERVIEW): Even though we want to have an easy senior year, the only way we’re gonna get into the good colleges we want is if we take these higher level classes. But these classes are harder to maintain those good grades. We have to worry about keeping up with jobs, what college am I going to get into, what happens if I don’t get into college? There’s just so much heavy stuff that you kind of just want to shut down. You just want to back off from it.

As of right now, what keeps me up the most at night is what if I don’t get into my program at W.V.U.? It’s a very competitive program. So, if I don’t get in, there’s very few alternatives for me, going into chiropractics.

That’s why I took so many college and AP classes this year because in middle school during Covid I struggled a lot with my (CRYING). . .sorry, I struggled a lot with my grades. I ended up. . having to have-do a day of summer school to get my Spanish grade up to a D, to pass. And at that time I was like, it’s whatever, they won’t care about it on my college transcript, but now I am like oh my gosh. That has more impact than I thought it did.

So I wish I could just go back and kick myself in the butt and be like, get it together. I have to make up for that. I have to show them how good I can do, now, so that they can see that I’ll succeed in their programs.

ROB SCHUPBACH (IN INTERVIEW): I know they’re struggling just like I’m struggling. We all have our crosses to bear.

ROB SCHUPBACH (SPEAKING TO HIS MOTHER): Hi, I am going to go ahead and give you this.

ROB SCHUPBACH: About a year ago, my mother got really sick and is now confined to a wheelchair. And my father got sick shortly after. I need to take care of them. Weighing that with my schoolwork, that can sometimes be tricky. Sometimes I don’t feel like I’ve been the best teacher.

I’m overwhelmed and I’m on the verge of burnout. And I probably won’t be returning next year. So that is something not a lot of people know. As hard as it is going to be to step away from the classroom, I think I need to do it in order to become better.

FRIEND: Izzy! Oh I like your blazer.

IZZY (ARRIVING AT A FRIEND’S HOUSE): Hey! I did. I brought my pink suit. Whenever I asked Mr. Schupbach if the pink would be too much? He went, no, I love it. Show your personality.

LAYLA: Yes!

SYDNEY: I almost want to wear a tie. My mom would never let me wear a tie.

HAYDEN: I know!

LAYLA: You should!

LAYLA: This is what I’m wearing for We The People.

LAYLA: I’ll be like Mr. Schupbach are these appropriate? You think, I can wear these?

IZZY: Wear them, wear them on the bus.

LAYLA: I actually think I might bring them to joke.

IZZY: Wear it into the building.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

NEVADA

VOICE (FROM ELI’S ZOOM CALL): Other countries are not following this, and this just undermines the idea of implementing it at all.

ELI: I would like to piggyback off of Neah and Jonathan. Ukraine wants to be part of NATO because if they were part of NATO and Russia attacked them, then all the other allied forces of NATO would have to do something about the issue. But people delayed that way before the war started and then closer to when the war started, they were like: Oh, we don’t want to ratify you while you’re in the middle of war. And then uhm. . .

Yeah, mama. Not really, okay okay, I have to go.

LOLA (ELI’S MOTHER): Wrap it up, please.

ELI: Okay, I am done.

LOLA: We were waiting for you. Your sisters are already asleep, and your dad is falling asleep.

ELI: Daddy. Chris, wake up!

VICTOR (ELI’S FATHER): Okay.

SIBLINGS: You have to help this time!

VICTOR: Vicky, Vicky take this. Give me that one.

LOLA: Here’s red.

ELI: I am a little nervous.

LOLA: Why?

ELI: Okay, well, nerves are expected.

LOLA: You’ve got this. Slow down. Don’t talk too fast. You already know what you’re going to say.

ELI: When Mr. Juliano told us to beef up on Israel-Palestine, it just explained the conflict from a neutral point of view, which I do appreciate, because a lot of people aren’t willing to do that in order for people to view Palestinians as anything other than terrorists, I think America needs to view them as a neutral party first.

LOLA: I don’t think anybody’s viewing them as just terrorists. They are saying Hamas.

ELI: Ah! Ah! America has a history of demonizing ethnic groups. As black people we should know that.

LOLA: No. You cannot lump everybody together.

ELI: I didn’t lump anyone together.

LOLA: So you’re saying the U.S., the U.S. government or the U.S. people?

ELI: Sorry! When I say U.S., I’m only ever referring to the government. If I want to say U.S.  people, I’ll say U.S. people.

VICTOR: Listen–in every analysis, you know what I advise people?

ELI: No, no! You’re not advising people on anything!

ELI (IN INTERVIEW): My dad, as a lecturer and just as himself, he can go on for hours. Literally whenever we would get, like, in trouble when we were younger, we’d always end up laughing by the end of it, when he was done with his lectures because we were like, oh my Gosh, Dad! Okay! It’s been two hours. We get it. We get it.

ELI: I understand your perspective. I’m just saying I have an entirely different perspective after two years of conclusive research.

VICTOR: And after two years of research to show you that the United States. . .

ELI: Has a tendency to demonize ethnicities that they do not agree with, yeah. Yes.

VICTOR AND LOLA: Hmm hmm wow.

LOLA: Things that make you go hmmmm. Hmmmm.

VICTOR: What I told my student is: paint clear history.

ELI: I did!

VICTOR: Because every time I hear people say Israel took the Palestinian people’s land.

ELI: Okay, dad!

VICTOR: Does Israel have claim to the land?

ELIi: No.

LOLA: They do, though.

VICTOR: The Jewish people. . .

ELI: Do not intertwine an entire ethnicity with their state. Did you not just tell me not to confuse the U.S. government with the U.S. people?

VICTOR: So if Jesus, who is from the tribe of Judah. . .

ELI: I’m telling you not to make. . .

VICTOR: Is from Palestine.

LOLA: Elo. Elo. No more politics.

VICTORIA (ELI’S SISTER): Okay, let’s stop the debate.

VICTOR: This is a matter of anthropology.

VICTOR: Oh no. Let’s keep going.

LOLA: No more debates.

VICTORIA:I want to just decorate the tree and light it.

VICTOR: Okay, let’s light the tree.

LOLA: Vicky, you get the kitchen light, make Elizabeth go back. Okay. Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off.

WHOLE FAMILY: Five, four, three, two, one!!

CHRISTINA (ELI’S SISTER): Um what, where’s the other one?

LOLA: Where’s the other light?

VICTORIA: Oh, my God!

LOLA: Where is there a light?

ELI: Chris, there’s two things to plug in.

VICTORIA: Oh, my God!

LOLA: Where is the other light?!

WHOLE FAMILY: Three, two, one!! Merry Christmas!!

VICTORIA: Merry Christmas!

ELI: That looks nice!

VICTOR: Merry Christmas 2023!

TEXT ON SCREEN:

3 DAYS BEFORE

NEVADA DISTRICT COMPETITION

ARCHIVAL:
DISPATCH: 911 emergency. . .
DISPATCH: How many shots have you heard?
CALLER: Like, like five. I am hiding under my desk. I closed my door, it’s locked.
DISPATCH: Have you heard anything else before or after?
CALLER: I heard some screaming. . .
DISPATCH: Okay. Who else is in the office with you?
CALLER: It’s just me. My boss is working from home.

ARCHIVAL:
POLICE OFFICER: Open door to my right, open door to my left!

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: Breaking news out of Las Vegas. Police say they responded to reports of an active shooter on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: People have been told to avoid the area, avoid the area of the University of Las Vegas campus. We are going to bring you more information as it comes in.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: Students’ tweets are saying, quote: This is not a test, run, hide, fight.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: We’re learning more about the shooter who killed three people and injured one yesterday.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: We will expect to hear more from police in just a couple of hours, just about 90 minutes from now you’ll watch it here live on NBC News Now.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT: Let’s pivot to the issue of gun safety because…this year alone our nation has experienced more than 600 mass shootings and approximately 40 thousand deaths due to gun violence.

STUDENT (WATCHING THE NEWS): That’s so crazy bro.

STUDENT: More than any year in history.

STUDENT: That’s what I’m saying!

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS REPORT:. . .Police in just a couple of hours, just about 90 minutes from now…on NBC News Now.

ELI: My family called me like three times. They were like, hey, there’s been a shooting at U.N.L.V.  I was like, oh my God, well is dad okay? They are like, no, no, no, dad is okay. He canceled class. He’s not in class. But it was just very eerie because we had another mass shooting at a concert in Vegas and it was like one of the biggest. Everybody is desensitized because it always happens. So what’s the point about talking about it?

ETHAN’S PARENTS: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Ethan, happy birthday to you!

KANLAYA PETCHAMRAS (ETHAN’s MOTHER): You wanna blow it? Make your wish! Hey!! 18-year-old boy!

ETHAN: I try to be optimistic for the future of the country. But when things like these happen, especially when they’re so close to my community, it’s, it’s difficult for me at times. You don’t ever think, wow, like that that happened to me until it actually does.

When I was in middle school, I used to be more of a gun rights absolutist, I think I wrote a paper in seventh grade advocating for Americans to own automatic firearms. But I will say that I think my, my viewpoints have become a little more nuanced now, not that I’ve jumped over to the other side, but seeing things like this makes me evaluate my position a little bit more.

When the district competition happens, I think it’s going to be tough because I feel like the judges might ask us to take a position on it, which could be pretty difficult.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

DISTRICT COMPETITION DAY

STUDENT (SINGING)… gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

STUDENTS: Order. Colors.

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: So students remember deep breaths throughout the day. Breathing relaxes your shoulders and helps you to know the answers because you know all of this. So please go forth and enjoy the day. Thank you all very much.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

SOUTHWEST CTA

JOE JULIANO: Ready to crush this? Like you, being yourself is going to be amazing. Okay? You are prepared. You have the right attitude. You guys are awesome and amazing, so just go with it.

ETHAN: I feel just nervous. Just dread and nervousness.

ELI: I just want to make sure that all the hard work that I’ve put in it was worth it.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

CANYON SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL

JOE JULIANO:  There are lots of good schools here today but our main competition is Canyon Springs.

LOU GRILLO (TEACHER): No matter how we do, you will remember this for the rest of your life.

ELI: They have the same level of passion as us. And so we just got to go the extra mile.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

SOUTHWEST CTA

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: All rise!

JOE JULIANO: Each school has six units, the judges score each unit and then all the points are added up to see who wins.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Please have a seat, everybody.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: We’re delighted to be here with Southwest Career Technical Academy.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Could you focus for me a little bit on what protects the independence of the judiciary under our Constitution?

ELI (IN INTERVIEW): It is scary going first because you are like oh my gosh, you are just scrambling to get an answer out.

ELI: The judicial branch is seen as a nonpartisan, independent form of government, although that sometimes is slightly disregarded.

STUDENT: The landmark court case Marbury v. Madison established the judiciary plays a large, branch ehm. The judiciary branch plays a large role, uhh, in all future cases.

ETHAN (IN INTERVIEW): We are all working towards the same goal and we literally share our points. You know, somebody’s else’s failure is our failure as well somebody’s else’s success is our success.

ELI (IN INTERVIEW): It’s just the matter of not even who tried the hardest but how the judges perceive it, how did the judges receive it.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

CANYON SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Are you ready?

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Do you think that law enforcement should be given certain latitude with respect to 4th amendment issues?

STUDENT: During this week there was a mass shooting at U.N.L.V. and I feel like government officials like police they should have a bit more power for the safety of their students and of the community overall.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

SOUTHWEST CTA

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: You guys all look so lovely.

ETHAN (IN INTERVIEW): Having my dad at the competition was a lot of pressure because I really want to show him everything I know. But you really never know what kinds of questions the judges are going to ask.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Let me ask you this. Has the power of judicial review gone too far and been too unrestrained?

ETHAN: The power of judicial review has gone too far. We have reached a point in our country where the Supreme Court justices’ interpretations of the Constitution tend to align with their political ideology. This is completely contradictory to the original intention of the framers under the Constitution.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Do you believe that the president should be able to pardon himself and/or his family members as part of that power?

ETHAN: Absolutely not. While, while, there is no explicitly stated wording in the Constitution, this definitely undermines the original intentions of the founders when creating that presidential power. This would definitely undermine the rule of law and decrease the trust of voters in our country.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Thank you all. Oh my goodness.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Wow!

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Give yourselves a hand.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Incredible job you guys.

JOE JULIANO: You have all these really awesome moments but you never see your competition so we can get really excited that we are doing well but we don’t really know how many of those moments other teams are having.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

WEST VIRGINIA 

ROB SCHUPBACH: Alright, everybody. Hands in the air! Hands in the air!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Whether the weather is cold!

STUDENTS: Whether the weather is cold!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Or whether the weather is hot!

STUDENTS: Or whether the weather is hot!

ROB SCHUPBACH: We’ll be together whatever the weather.

STUDENTS: We’ll be together whatever the weather.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Whether we like it or not!

STUDENTS: Whether we like it or not!

ROB SCHUPBACH AND STUDENTS: Yay!!

ROB SCHUPBACH: Go team! Quietly!

TEXT ON SCREEN: 

WEST VIRGINIA DISTRICT COMPETITION 

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: This is a really wonderful law school and it’s really wonderful that we get to be part of this experience.

TEXT ON SCREEN: 

TYLER CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: What is this high school?

STUDENTS: Tyler Consolidated.

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: And you are?

STUDENTS: Robert C. Byrd.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

ROBERT C. BYRD HIGH SCHOOL

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: Robert C. Byrd. Okay! Okay.

IZZY: We are competing against Robert C. Byrd. They have kicked our butt every single year.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Okay unit two, you guys are up, you want to go ahead and get the place?

JADEN: Guys, I am actively peeing my pants right now. Guys, what if I puke?

IZZY: Um, I ask you that you don’t puke on me.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE:  All rise!

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Be seated.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Were there any historical events that influenced Brutus 1 and Federalist 10 regarding factions?

IZZY (IN INTERVIEW): For me anxiety and nervousness does not set in until I am sitting in the chair, standing on the stage. I’m going to mess up our time limit. I’m gonna look like an idiot.

STUDENT: Could you repeat the question please?

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Yes, were there any significant events that influenced the views presented in Brutus 1?

ROB SCHUPBACH: I get nervous, kicking myself that I should have gone over this more or that more.

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): You are basically watching them get grilled so I felt really bad where they were in the hot seat.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: How does the concept of freedom of association relate to this concept of factionalism?

IZZY (IN INTERVIEW): Mr. Schupbach said, he’s like you’re freaking out now. But once they ask you, you’ll know, what to say. I got this.

IZZY: Freedom of association, with that, it means we are allowed to associate with our freedom of assembly, we are allowed to form these factions. An example of this today would be personal privacy versus national security.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: In today’s society, are factions or special interests groups generally considered beneficial?

IZZY: Faction or interest group, currently, is those who are supportive of gun control.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Are there any enduring lessons or insights from Brutus?

IZZY: In Brutus 10 they speak of how Congress should not be… As they fear that that would take away from the individual rights…take a look into our personal lives…forming the political parties we have today and then adversely they can form contradictory group–

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: You can finish your sentence.

IZZY: Ah, contradictory groups that harmed our federal institutions in the past.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Comments?

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Wonderful job.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Yeah. Absolutely.

ROB SCHUPBACH AND STUDENTS: Yay!

JADEN: Isabella! That was insane!

LAYLA: All of them did really well, I was really proud of all of them that went. But I am like nervous because Robert C. Byrd is infamous for being the winner for like the last five years.

TEXT ON SCREEN:

ROBERT C. BYRD HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENT: So I think the Protestant Reformation started the process, albeit very slowly.

STUDENT: Other court cases and then they should have their own world perspective outside of that.

STUDENT: I think everyone should have the equal opportunity to get the same education, and I think the Constitution needs to protect that.

TEXT ON SCREEN: 

TYLER CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: You may be seated.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Can you provide an example of a provision in an international constitution that you think that the United States should consider adopting?

LAYLA: While I’m not familiar on other parts of the world and their particular governments, as someone who believes in women’s rights, I feel like in the last year it’s been a hot topic of Roe versus Wade. We have had not only a human right taken away from us but an individual right. . .

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): I know many women in my life who have had abortions and they are the strongest women I know and to take away that option, if they wouldn’t have had those, they wouldn’t have been where they are today.

ROB SCHUPBACH: When it comes to We The People and this competition, the thing that they will bring is their life experience. I don’t want anyone to tell Layla Williamson human rights don’t matter because she will tell you human rights matter.

LAYLA: I am very proud to be from a country where my rights are reflected in my power to vote.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Deep breath. Well done.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: You did a nice job, and it was nice to personalize your answers and how it impacts you. I feel very well-educated by you, delightful, young ladies. Thank you.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: We’re going to put five more minutes on the clock and we’re going to do some more questions because we enjoyed it so much.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Well done.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: I just must say to you, you can’t let this be some classroom activity. With all the knowledge that you have, with the brain power that you have, please continue to use those leadership skills in your school, and in your community, and in our state. We wish you the very best and thank you.

WE THE PEOPLE JUDGE: Thank you.

IZZY: We’re going to states?

JADEN: I hope so.

LAYLA: Yeah, you did fantastic.

IZZY: He said that was the best he’s heard.

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: We won’t hesitate any longer. The We The People the Citizen and the Constitution first place for unit six congressional district two goes to Tyler County Consolidated. First place for unit five goes to Robert C Byrd High School. First place for unit four: Robert C. Byrd. . . Robert C. Byrd. . . Robert C. Byrd. The district two champion for the We The People in the citizen Constitution goes to Robert C. Byrd High School.

ROB SCHUPBACH (TO THE OPPOSING TEAM): Congratulations guys, congratulations.

IZZY (IN INTERVIEW): I felt disappointed in myself because I felt like I did so good, and I just fell short. But I am doing things I did not think I was capable of and it kind of just, it makes me a little more proud of myself.

ROB SCHUPBACH: Just because we didn’t win a trophy does not mean we didn’t win the day.

ROB SCHUPBACH (TO THE STUDENTS): Yay!!!

ROB SCHUPBACH: I am more concerned that twenty of my best students show the world that they know how our government works, how to be an active participant, and how to be a good human being.

LAYLA (IN INTERVIEW): I am one of the people who did not know the three branches of government, like did not know any of the amendments. I did not know who our senators were. I just have always kind of steered clear of politics, and this has kind of shone a light like wow, as an American, I need to know a lot more what’s going on in my government, and it has definitely convinced me I need to vote.

TEXT ON SCREEN: 

NEVADA

JOE JULIANO: Whatever happens in there, hold your head high, okay, you guys did something special today.

STUDENTS: Awww!

JOE JULIANO: Alright? I’m proud of you, your parents are proud of you, okay? And, you know, all these judges were impressed by you.

COMPETITION ORGANIZER: Alright, so there is only like five points difference, between first place and sixth place. But that tells you how close it was. So you were all phenomenal. Alrighty.

The qualifying teams first place – Southwest.

STUDENTS: One, two, three. Southwest!

JOE JULIANO: Congratulations. Man, you guys, you guys, earned it, right, this is, this is the result of hard work from August to now. So now we take this momentum and see how far we can get.

(END)