Teachers

Welcome to the Inaugural We the People National Invitational!

This event is a once in a lifetime experience for you and your students. Not only will your students connect with other students throughout the nation, their classroom lessons and hard work will come to life as they participate in the congressional hearings and explore and experience Washington D.C. I am confident that you and your class will make lasting memories enjoying all that our nation's capital has to offer.

Good luck to you and your class!
Robert S. Leming, Director
We the People Programs
Center for Civic Education

Hearing Rooms

Saturday and Sunday

The hearings will take place in the George W. Johnson Center on the George Mason University campus. The hearing rooms have a capacity of 55 or 65, so the number of open seats depends on the class size and number of parents and visitors. Every effort will be made to ensure that parents and visitors who have come to see a particular student testify will be seated in the room during that student’s unit hearing. Parents and visitors may stand in the back of the room unless otherwise directed due to fire codes and at the discretion of the teacher, or Center staff. To ensure that the hearings are not interrupted, parents and visitors will be admitted to the hearing room at appropriate break times (between units) and before and after the judges have left the room.

Everyone is welcome to observe the hearings. However to ensure fairness, anyone affiliated with a competing class (teachers, coaches, students, chaperons, parents, friends, relatives, etc.) may not enter the hearing room of any other competing class. Once a class hearing is completed, floor supervisors and Center staff will help direct classes and visitors exit in a timely fashion.




Student Orientation Room

The Student Orientation will he held on the George Mason University campus in Innovation Hall (Room 103). On Saturday and Sunday, there will be a half hour briefing for all classes before the hearings begin. Upon arrival on campus, floor supervisors and Center staff will direct students to the Orientation room. Robert Leming, Director of the We the People Programs, and Mark Molli, Director of Governmental Relations, will officially welcome students, teachers, parents, and visitors to the We the People National Invitational and address the students about important matters concerning the event. Once all classes have been dismissed, parents and visitors will be directed to the hearing rooms.

Awards Ceremony

The Monday evening Awards Ceremony will take place in the Cinema of the George W. Johnson Center on the campus of George Mason University from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. The ceremony is the culminating event of the Inaugural We the People National Invitational. This is the time to celebrate the accomplishments of all of the students and teachers participating in the National Invitational.