Nearly 2,800 miles from home, the members, coaches and families of the 2024 Grant High School Constitution Team erupted into cheers. Against all odds, the team had placed first at the annual We the People national finals in Washington, D.C. After placing second at the state competition in February, they had become the first “wild card” team ever to do so.

“It’s a testament to how hard the students worked outside of class with their coaches,” Constitution Team teacher Andrea DiPasquale says.

Both a Grant class and an after-school activity, DiPasquale says Constitution Team is “a deep dive into civics education.” The team is split into six units, each covering a different topic related to the U.S. Constitution. Unit One is the historical and philosophical foundations of the Constitution; Unit Two details the Constitutional Convention and the Framers’ creation of the Constitution; Unit Three discusses how America has lived up to the ideals established in the Declaration of Independence; Unit Four covers the structure of the government; Unit Five studies the Bill of Rights and case law; and Unit Six deals with current events and issues facing 21st-century democracy.

Acting as a team within the team, each unit focuses on its assigned segment of the curriculum under the guidance of their coaches — professional lawyers who volunteer hours of their time to the program.

During class time and biweekly extracurricular meetings, the team prepares for its competitions, which take the form of mock congressional hearings in which each unit is given four minutes to read a prepared statement answering questions about its area of expertise.

These questions are released at the start of the school year, giving teams roughly five months to prepare their responses. After presenting their statements, a panel of judges grills them with follow-up questions for eight minutes. In their answers, students are expected to cite court cases, the Constitution, related statistics and the work of philosophers and historians to support their position.

“One of the greatest gifts of Constitution Team is students learning how to really think critically and deeply and analyze based on their experience and understanding,” says DiPasquale. “I think that’s what really put us over the top this year — that level of analysis.”

If the team wins its competitions, it can compete up to three times: first at districts in January, second at state in February and third at the three-day national finals in Washington, D.C., in April.

Due to the month-long Portland Association of Teachers teacher strike in November 2023 followed by a debilitating week-long ice storm in January, the team faced major setbacks when preparing for its competitions. “We found out that we would have less time than any other team in the nation to get ready — only nine weeks to get ready for this national competition,” says Unit Five member Hannah Rainge. “We (had) no idea how we (were) going to make this work.”

For a moment in December, the coaches didn’t either. Members recall that one of the coaches, Tim Volpert, wrote the words “a Christmas miracle” on the whiteboard. “Then he spent 15 minutes telling us that we weren’t good enough,” says Unit Six member Theo Miranda-Zelnick. “And he said, ‘If you guys pick it up and do well from now on, it’ll be my Christmas miracle.’”

While members say their coaches’ tough love strategy could be brutal at times, it played a key role in motivating the team. “It just made the wins even better,” says Unit Four member Malina Yuen. It also showed the students how much time, dedication and care the coaches committed to their success.

However, the team’s biggest push came from finishing second at state behind Lincoln High School, their longtime rival. “It gave us that little piece of, probably, humble pie that we needed so that we could go on and work twice as hard so that we could make it to the point we needed to make it to,” says Rainge.

Despite placing second, the team was able to move on to the national competition as a “wild card” competitor. Wild cards give some states the chance to send two or three teams to the national competition instead of only one.

Honoring Volpert’s wishes, the team spent the next two months — significantly less time then it had for state — preparing for a new set of competition questions. “We breathed Constitution Team by the end,” says DiPasquale.

In true 2024 Grant Constitution Team fashion, the plague of obstacles did not end when they stepped into the Portland International Airport. From missed flights to misplaced bags, nationals was off to a rocky start.

Once safely in Washington, D.C., they spent three days competing against the most accomplished teams and performing before the harshest judges in the country — and they pulled through.

The team was told that it had made it to the top 10 on the second day of competition. After a final night of cramming, each unit participated in its last mock congressional hearing the following day to solidify their standing.

Members recall sitting in a row of chairs at the final awards ceremony after their third day of competition and vibrating with anticipation. “Being in the top 10, that in itself is a feat — there are 48 schools,” says DiPasquale.

As the top 10 teams were announced, Grant’s name remained elusive. “At that point we were, I think, a little bit in shock,” says DiPasquale. “And then they announced second place and we erupted. I mean, it was out of control.”

After navigating a teachers’ strike, a citywide ice storm, the constructive critiques of legal professionals, thousands of pages of content and hours of mock hearings, Constitution Team had emerged victorious. “To get to see all the work that we put in come into fruition is just the most amazing thing we could possibly ask for,” says Rainge.

While proud of their achievement, DiPasquale and the team’s members emphasize that winning is not the sole focus of Constitution Team. Students, teachers and coaches alike admire the class’ rigor and tight-knit community.

The team spends a whole year working closely with one another to navigate and understand a governmental system that doesn’t work for everybody. Most importantly, they also learn how to use this civic knowledge to effect positive change within American society.

“I would say that Con Team is one of the most rewarding experiences you can probably be a part of,” says Rainge. “It’s one of the most challenging yet most fulfilling things you’ll probably do in your life.”

It is not uncommon for Constitution Team alumni to return to Grant as judges for practice hearings, or even as coaches.

“The people who do it,” says Charlie Buckley, “it affects them for the rest of their life.”