NHS student selected as winner in Know Your Constitution contest
Kate Johnson, a North High School senior, has been selected as a winner in the Know Your Constitution contest. Out of 1,500 applicants, Johnson is just one of 100 students selected. This honor also earned her the opportunity to attend a weeklong citizenship education experience in Washington D.C. from Feb. 17-22.
The Know Your Constitution contest is designed to enrich students’ understanding and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution. The program is open to students in 9-12 grade. Entrants take a multiple-choice quiz and submit a short essay analyzing a current constitutional issue.
A Young Lawyer’s Division committee grades the entries and selects the 100 winners from each of Iowa’s legislative districts. These 100 students and their teacher-sponsors attended a special luncheon on Jan. 11 in Des Moines. At the luncheon, Johnson and four fellow student winners were selected at random to participate in an all-expense-paid, week-long trip to Washington, D.C. in February, as part of the Close Up Program.
Johnson’s teacher-sponsor, Mr. Charles Hoberg of North High, will also have the opportunity to go on the Washington, D.C. trip to support Johnson in the Close Up Program’s experiential learning. While in D.C., Johnson and Hoberg will embark on experiences that compliment classroom civic learning. In D.C., Close Up provides students with practical opportunities to experience for themselves the problems and prospects of political activity.
The Know Your Constitution contest is sponsored by The Iowa State Bar Association, with additional funding from the Iowa State Bar Foundation and many of the county Bar Associations across Iowa. Additional information on the contest can be found at https://www.iowabar.org/page/KnowConstitution.