Lambs to Lions

My second social media thank you goes out to the 2013-2014 Fishers High School We the People team.  These kids provided me with one of my favorite experiences in my teaching career.  These kids were already special to me before they ever won state and became Team Indiana.  It is hard to describe to those on the outside what it takes to represent Indiana in We-the-People.  The state is one of the “power” states in We the People year in and year out.  The top 4 teams in Indiana could have finished in the top 10 at Nationals.  The work it takes to be in the conversation with Muenster, HSEHS, Cathedral, and Plainfield is daunting.  Rather than choose between preaching to the choir or confusing people.  I wanted to focus on each of the people involved so that I can acknowledge why they mattered.

 Unit 1 was as close to a perfect team composition as you could create; their steady development and domination at nationals reflected that perfection.  Each of them played a different role and these different notes struck harmoniously by the end.  You could normally count on Elliott to be the first to answer a judges question.  Describing Elliott is difficult; part Tibetan monk, part computer programmer, and part renaissance thinker.  He is not of natural strong opinions, because he will wait until he has explored and discussed every nuance and angle before forming an opinion.  Once he has internalized the understanding, he can apply it globally.  Plus the ponytail and fashion sense play to the persona.  Meghan is the glue to the unit.  She brings the quote, the reference, and the direct response to the question.  There is no one that worked harder to understand and contribute than Meghan.  She would take a question and build a web of references to the question.  Her contributions always seemed to bring depth of understanding; she clearly demonstrated that she had researched for beyond the text.  Lastly, there is T.J., the unit closer.  He was responsible for cleaning up four responses at Nationals that took the team response from good to great.  My friend and fellow advisor, Geoff Tease, commented over and over again about how T.J. would speak last and give a response that directly answered the judge’s question.  ATDQ!  T.J. has this forward lean and eye contact thing that would charm judges; if he goes into sales he is a shoo-in for setting sales records.  On Sunday nights in my basement these kids would be one of my favorites to “argue/debate” with because they hated to lose and finally figured out how to fight back.

Unit 2; my unit. *sniff*  I love these kids. *tear* In the beginning of the year I was not sure why Paternoster hated me so much since two of my three did not talk.  I had some worries going into Regionals, but then something happened.  I would take credit for it, if I knew what happened.  Suddenly, the entire team found its voice.  Sally is my lead-first, feisty historian.  Talking is NOT a weakness.  She was made for We the People.  The fact she could probably teach APUSH provided the team a core of knowledge that was so valuable in competition.  Every group has to have that person who breaks the awkward silence and that was Sally’s role.  At Nationals her personality clicked with one of the judges and they had a little intellectual exchange that deep down I knew would win us that day (and it did).  Jeremy was our unit’s bullhorn.  His marching band-trained voice was a weapon.  We used it for every quote, because his voice demanded the judge’s attention.  Where he made the biggest jump was when he decided to dig deeper into Alexis de Tocqueville.  Something changed in Jeremy.  Now he did not become a one-trick pony, but it gave him a professorial depth to his responses; any question, any challenge he could support himself through this lens.  He drove himself to be better; he has “grit” to him.  He caused me more than one teary moment at Nationals with his demeanor and understanding.  Janka; my Hungarian, German-speaking, one-time mute who rose like an academic phoenix who discovered that she could bring forth knowledge.  Janka made Jeremy look talkative in the beginning.  When we were just talking together she would contribute, but in a front of a judge…no.  Going into state Janka changed; she decided to take responsibility for her contribution.  She was really good at state; but, during the lead up to Nationals and at Nationals she was the unit’s philosopher.  She could was link Madison and Patrick Henry to current events; talk intelligently about state conventions, but her moment came when the “cool” judge talked to her in German and she answered him back.  When he talked to her in German (her third language), Janka sold the moment…a slight hesitation, a smirk, and then she answered; in perfect German.  It was a golden ticket moment.  This unit was easily the most improved unit from Regionals to Nationals.  On the last day, in the longer discussion, they were the best they have ever been.  I could not be more proud.

Unit 3.  I loved these kids.  Jessie is the one I have known the longest as I had a hand in coaching her in softball years ago and her dad is someone that I have worked with on We the People.  Jessie does not lack for conviction (at this moment everyone who knows her is shaking her or her head in the affirmative).  Strong passions and a fearless heart make for entertaining theater.  At state competition Jessie went toe-to-toe over gun rights with a deputy prosecutor for the city of Indianapolis.  It was epic.  Jessie likes to bait judges to debate her so that can win the argument.  She makes me laugh, because I like to ask her questions during follow-up that I know will raise her blood pressure.  Caroline is the group wordsmith; a born English teacher.  She has a aura about that makes you believe her and trust her sincerity.  She took a while to find her voice, but by Nationals she was a full-time contributor and held her own on the biggest stage.  Caroline has another quality that is defining and that is her heart.  She cares deeply about people; it is written on her face when she listens.  The last member of the triad was Jake Patterson; another philosopher-king.  Jake is even more Tibetan Buddhist than Elliott.  Jake can philosophize in one moment and go straight math formulas the next.  Jake is unconcerned with the flow of the current; he is interested in the source of the water.  He wants to understand ideas at an organic level.  He does not parrot opinions; he forms his own.  Jake also rocks an interesting hat that with the US Flag sunglasses cuts quite a dashing figure.