editorial@observertoday.com
WESTFIELD Greg Birner, Westfield Academy and Central School’s Social Studies teacher, and his We the People Team have experienced unprecedented success this year by placing second at states with an invitation to nationals.
Birner has been coaching We the People teams since 2007. To date, the best any team has placed was third overall in the state competition. This year, the 14 students who made up the We the People Team placed second overall and were marked as above average or excellent by 21 out of 24 judges, Birner said.
Only the top two placing teams in the state are invited to the national competition. Birner said that nine out of the 14 students have chosen to compete in the nationals, which will take place in late April.