GJSD High School Students Take Top Honors in “We The People” Competition!

Congratulations to Johnstown High School students Jacob Martell, Cody Massey, Sarah Pratt, and Kanako Sasaki, for winning top honors in the “Unit 2” category of the NY State We the People competition last weekend!

A boy smiling in an outdoor photo, next to an American flag, with his name listed, Jacob Martell.  A girl smiling in an outdoor photo, next to an American flag, with her name listed, Kanako Sasaki.

A girl smiling in an outdoor photo, next to an American flag, with her name listed, Sarah Pratt.  A boy smiling in an outdoor photo, next to an American flag, with his name listed, Cody Massey.

The students participated in the competition as part of Mr. Sean Russo’s Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics, Leadership and Economics (A.P.P.L.E.) course and competed against 8 other teams from throughout New York state.

The competition required students demonstrate their knowledge of the United States Constitution, government, public policy, and current events by working in teams to prepare and give four-minute speeches.  The students then had to extemporaneously answer six minutes of challenging follow-up questions from the judges.

The students would like to thank Debra Lesser and Gladys Aviles from the Justice Resource Center for organizing and hosting the event, as well as the following community members who volunteered their time to join virtual Zoom sessions as guest judges to help the A.P.P.L.E. class prepare for the competition:

  • Gloversville City Judge Traci DiMezza
  • Fulton County District Attorney Chad Brown
  • Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Amanda Nellis
  • Fulton County Supervisor Gregory Young
  • GJSD Board of Education member Beverly Alves 
  • Attorney Allen Day

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