Pleasanton Students To Feature In PBS Documentary

PLEASANTON, CA — Students from Foothill and Amador Valley High Schools will be featured in the PBS documentary "Citizen Nation," the Pleasanton Unified School District announced.

The episode will air Monday, Oct. 28 at the Hayward Performing Arts Center, and will showcase the efforts of the "We the People" competitive civics teams. Students from the team will attend the event to answer questions about their experience.

Students learn about governance and constitutional principles, and participate in simulated congressional hearings. In February, Amador Valley High School won first place in the state championship, and Foothill won second. Foothill went on to win third place in the national competition in Washington, D.C. in April for the second year in a row. Amador placed ninth. Both teams have represented California in the national championships for the past three years.

“The We the People program is so important to the students that participate in it both at Foothill, Amador Valley, and around the country, and to receive a chance to share even a bit of that with the larger public is a tremendous honor,” Foothill We the People teacher Graham McBride said in a statement. “We are extraordinarily proud of our students.”

"I am excited to see this program gain some visibility. I have spent most of my years in the District either volunteering with or coaching the Amador team, and I have never seen a program have such a consistently positive effect on students' civic engagement," Amador Valley We the People Coach Stacey Sklar said in a statement. "Watching the documentary filmmakers was fascinating, and now to see the final product emerging from all of their hard work is impressive. The team really enjoyed playing a part in the process.”

See here to RVSP for the screening.