“We the People” are three of the most famous and recognizable words from our nation’s history. They represent what the founding fathers wanted for this nation, a place where everyone had an equal say in the government. While not everyone did at the time of writing the constitution, over time more and more groups of people were included. Within this idea of “We The People” is the idea of civic virtue that everyone in the community works together to achieve the common good. This can only be done with a civic education where people study and are informed about their government, and how it works. It may come as a shock, but an alarming number of people are ill informed about the nature of our government. Sometimes, simple things such as naming the three branches of government are impossible for many citizens. The importance of a civic education is obvious, and there are many ways to go about educating citizens. One way that Marlboro High School teaches civic education is with a course taught by Mr. Uplinger called “We The People.”

The class revolves around learning about the constitution, its impact when it was originally written, and how it has changed and impacts the world today. The way this is done is by organizing the class into six different groups each covering a different aspect of the constitution. For the first few months, these groups study their topic and write three different essays revolving around their central topic. What makes this class unique is that after each essay is written, the students will go in front of the class and give a ten minute oral presentation. This includes reading the essay they wrote which can take up to four minutes, and then six minutes of answering questions about their essay. All of this is done for more than just a grade; it is for entering a nationwide competition and competing with different schools to see who the best is. On January 29, Mr. Uplinger’s class went to Rutgers University to compete at the state level, and not only did they excel but were one of the best schools there. They beat all the other schools except one to achieve second place for only the second time in the school’s history. What makes it even more impressive is the class came very close to beating East Windsor which normally wins the competition every time, and is one of the best schools in the nation. That means Marlboro High School came extremely close to beating one of the best schools in America!

In the competition, each unit is judged by three different people who are an expert in their field. Each judge can award up to 60 points each meaning the highest possible points each unit can earn is 180 points. In it, none of Marlboro High School’s units came anywhere near the lowest score and were all within 20 points at most of the highest scoring class. Unit 1 scored 143 points which was only 15 points away from East Brunswick High School which received the highest unit 1 score of 158 points. A big round of applause is in order for Unit 2 who not only earned the high score, but also Marlboro’s first perfect score of 180. Unit 3 got 153 points which was slightly behind East Brunswick High School who had 19 points more the Marlboro. Unit 4 achieved 139 points which was only 20 points behind the high score of 159 achieved by Hopewell Valley Regional High School. Units 5 and 6 came extremely close to beating East Brunswick High School for the high score. Unit 5 earned 161 points which was only 8 points behind East Brunswick, and Unit 6 scored 165 points which was only 5 points behind them.

All in all, everyone who competed in the competition, as well as the unfortunate few who did not go but helped contribute to their groups’ successes, should be immensely proud of themselves. They all competed in a group of the best of the best in New Jersey, and not only did well but excelled. With the immense success this brought Marlboro High School, it is important that students decide to enroll in this class. They will not only learn information on how their government works, but will have a chance to truly show the results of their academic success.