FJHS We the People go to Washington, D.C.

Don't stop believing! Hold on to that fee-ee-ee-ee-eeling!

Journey has been on a loop in my head for nearly a month now. And it's glorious!

I tried to explain in a previous blog post what We the People is and what it has meant to my family.

To sum up: We the People is an awesome civics course and competition that engages students in real life learning and critical thinking. And it's kind of the most important thing to happen to our family this year.

On December 13, 2016, we traveled through slush and snow to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Indianapolis for the We the People State Finals. We knew we had heavy competition. The Brown County team, led by Mr. Michael Potts, had been state and national champions for years. Brown County's We the People team had been an inspiration to the FJHS team, pushing them to do more, study longer, think deeper, and go farther.

This year, the Fishers Junior High We the People team took first place at the We the people Indiana State Competition.

As state champions, the team has been invited to the 5th Annual We the People National Invitational in Washington, D.C.

Which means that the FJHS We the People journey continues on!

Don't stop believing! Hold on to that fee-ee-ee-ee-eeling!

The team will need to raise over $50,000 to get to D.C.

That's a lot of bills!

And thus, the loop.

I believe we can raise this money and watch this team go all the way to the top at Nationals, if we...

Don't stop believing! Hold on to that fee-ee-ee-ee-eeling!

We the People is, at least for my daughter and some of her friends that I've spoken with, The Most Important Thing they've ever done.

Sometimes when I try to explain We the People to friends and family, they get a glazed look in their eye. They nod along, but I can tell what they're really thinking.

But it's just a social studies class, right? Maybe there's a competition, but kids compete all the time in this day and age. Shannon's just being overly dramatic.

Curse you, 1989-1993 Shannon! Why'd you have to go and join the drama department? For the rest of your life people are going to look at you like you're being overly dramatic, even when you're just being regularly dramatic!

I understand that it's hard to get why We the People is so important without seeing it in action. But I'm not being overly dramatic (or regularly dramatic or even dramatic at all) when I say, We the People is not just a class. It's not just a competition.

It's a footing.

Years and years ago, Hubster and I had our first home built. We lived in an apartment nearby, which meant we could drive by daily to watch the building progress. I still remember the sunny Saturday that we showed up to inspect the concrete footings (And that I was wearing a yellow visor. Why, Shannon of 1999? Why? You've never played tennis! Or golf! Or other visor appropriate sports!).

I'd never seen footings before. To be honest, I had no idea they were a thing. I knew houses were built on foundations, but footings? I was pretty sure the builder was just making up stuff to charge us for at that point.

It turns out, footings are both real things and very important things. For those like 1999 Shannon who are unsure, a footing is a reinforced concrete structure, sometimes up to 30 inches wide, that works to displace the enormous weight of a building so that the foundation walls don't slice through the earth, sinking like a Game of Thrones character's sword into another Game of Thrones character's skull.

(Disclaimer: I don't actually watch GoT because my overactive imagination is actually overly dramatic and therefore not friends with blood and gore, but from what I hear about GoT from friends, I think this metaphor works. Yes?)

Basically, the footing is the foundation for the foundation. It's the first and most important structure that goes into the ground when building a home.

It's like a core value in a person.

We the People has helped my daughter form core values of her own, not just those handed to her by her family, friends, and community. Values that will guide her wherever she goes in the future. Values on which she can build a bright future.

What Daughter and her classmates are learning in We the People will give them the confidence, skills, and knowledge to affect so much good, necessary, and important change in the world.

So when I talk about We the People, I'm not just talking about a social studies class. I'm talking about the footings of our nation. I'm talking about that which holds our country up, keeps it from settling into a cracked and irreparable land. I'm talking about our present and our future, and the ways in which our past is holding them up. I'm talking about looking back so that we can go boldly forward.

I'm talking about the American dream, battered and bruised, but still standing, always there to hold us up.

I'm talking about how this one trip to Washington, D.C. will change our world.

And I'm not being even a tad bit dramatic.

Bringing home the 1st Place trophy from the Indiana We the People State Competition.

Don't stop believing! Hold on to that fee-ee-ee-ee-eeling!

If you'd like to support the team (PLEASE SUPPORT THIS AMAZING TEAM), you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @FJHSWethePeople and the #GetFJHSWethePeopletoNationals hashtag. You can also get more information about the team and its fundraising efforts at www.gofundme.com/fjhswethepeople. And you can read testimonials from team members on their teacher Mr. Mike Fassold's blog.

For more information about the We the People program and programs like it, visit the Center for Civic Education.