Wilson High's We the People team represents country's melting pot

FLORENCE — The students on the Wilson High School We The People team aren’t your average teenagers.

The nine-member team won a state competition by the same name in January where they went toe-to-toe with some of the brightest minds in the state by testing their knowledge of the law and the Constitution of the United States.

But what’s most intriguing about the team isn’t their knowledge. It’s the fact that most are the sons and daughters of non-U.S. citizens.

Two members weren’t born in the United States and are in the process of becoming citizens themselves.

Yvonne Rhodes, a Wilson High teacher and advisor for the team, said their diverse backgrounds are part of what makes them successful.

“I think these kids have a really deep appreciation for America and for our laws, our freedom and our liberty,” Rhodes said. “Some of these kids have experienced first-hand what it’s like to live in an oppressive government.”

Team member David Dong was born in China and is one of the seven team members who are the children of foreign-born parents.

Dong, now a vocal 18-year-old, left communist China at age 4 but has a clear opinion about the country of his birth.

“It’s not really a government so much as it’s a group of people that just put their friends in charge,” he said. “Anytime you meet a government official, he just mentions he has a friend in a higher office.”

As a member of We the People, Dong and his classmates studied and became young experts on the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers.

Dong said competing makes him more appreciative of democracy.

“I think it’s pretty cool that if that guy wants to get elected and the government doesn’t approve of him because of his radical policies but everybody else supports him, we can override the government and elect him,” he said.

All the students took a nine-week civics class taught by Rhodes. This prepared them for the rigorous task of studying for competition.

Marisha Letki, the daughter of Polish parents, recalled what it was like to compete.

The competition is divided into units during which students have to take stands on certain government issues.

“I knew I wanted to be an anti-federalist because they wanted a Bill of Rights,” Letki said. “I thought that it was important to have a Bill of Rights enumerated in the constitution so that we would know what our rights were. No one could tell us ‘you don’t have that right.’”

Rhodes said the judges — among them professors, lawyers and politicians— would not accept just an opinion for an answer. The question has to be supported with research and knowledge of applicable case law and other documents, she said.

“It’s very intimidating, and these kids are just phenomenal . They can rise up and are able to compete at this level,” Rhodes said.

Letki said being a member of We The People has not only been a learning process for her, but also for her parents who were schooled in Poland during communism.

“My mom talks about how she was forced to learn Russian,” she said. “There were some things she couldn’t learn.

“Her father was a policeman and he wasn’t allowed to go to church. Sometimes I have to tell them how it is because they don’t know everything about our government.”

Her mother was visiting the U.S. prior to Martial law and was unable to immediately return home because of the danger during the change in government.

Varoon Patel, an Indian-born 17-year-old, became a U.S. citizen just days ago. Before the competition, Patel said, the Wilson team members got together to critique one another and to make sure they were ready for the challenge that lay ahead.

Letki and 16-year-old Coleman Wells said being on the team is time-consuming but fun because the members are a close-knit group of friends.

The students practiced after school every day for the state competition and, after a brief break, began practicing for the national competition which will be held this year.

This is Rhodes’ fourth winning team in about 10 years. Rhodes serves as sixth district coordinator for the Center for Civic Education.

We The People is an educational program implemented by U.S. Congress in honor of the bicentennial of the U.S. Bill of Rights.