COLUMBUS (January 16, 2026) – Why is a constitution considered “higher” law? In what ways, if any, do citizens exercise meaningful influence over the government?
These are a sampling of the questions that high school students have been preparing to answer at the 2026 We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution State Competition to be held Friday, January 23rd at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.
Over 150 students from eight different schools will participate: Archbold High School (Fulton County), Findlay High School (Hancock County), Ravenna High School (Portage County), St. Francis DeSales High School (Franklin County), Sycamore High School (Hamilton County), Van Wert High School (Van Wert County) and West Carrollton High School (Montgomery County).
Students will showcase their understanding of important constitutional principles by presenting and evaluating positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues. After providing prepared answers to competition questions, students will then answer follow-up questions in the format of simulated legislative hearings. Competition judges include college professors, attorneys and other community leaders.
Expanding a practice of the past several years, OCLRE has included a special question for the Ohio students to tackle based on the state constitution in each of the 6 units covered by the competition.
“The decision to add an Ohio Constitution question to each unit came as part of OCLRE’s ongoing attempt to better connect We the People to Ohio students through the Ohio state standards,” said Danielle Rains, We the People program coordinator. “We work closely with an advisory group of teachers who encouraged us to make changes that would help them meet the standards for American Government in Ohio, as well as helping their students learn more about how our state government and state constitution function. We’re proud to put a Buckeye twist on a national program!”
The State Champion will earn the right to represent Ohio at the We the People National Finals, hosted by the Center for Civic Education on April 17th through the 19th in Washington, D.C.
We the People is administered in Ohio by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) and is a national program of the Center for Civic Education. OCLRE is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of our democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Ohio State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation. In Ohio, We the People is funded in part by a grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. For more information, please visit www.oclre.org.
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