I love being around teenagers from time to time. I know that�s supposedly rare. Perhaps the people who moan and groan about teenagers don�t spend enough time with the type of teenagers I saw this weekend. I saw very bright kids and kids who just work hard. I saw good kids who make mistakes but are not usually in big trouble. I saw kids thinking and speaking about our Constitution: how did it get to be written the way it was, how should we think about its history, and how should it and does it shape our lives today. All that thinking was incredibly stimulating. It also brought out my optimistic side. If these kids are representative of their generation, the country will be in good hands some day.

I spent this past weekend judging a competition called � We the People.� 51 teams, one from each state and one from the District of Columbia, participate in teams of between 12 and 24 kids. The kids were broken down into six units, each responsible for a broad area. The units have titles such as �What are the Philosophical and Historical Foundations of the American Political System?� The questions are based upon concepts within the units. In other words, the judges and the kids of that unit have just a little light chat about such things as the Renaissance and philosophy. The kids have the main question in advance and prepare a four-minute answer. The following six minutes are spent with the judges asking follow-up questions.

Because of the follow-up questions, being a judge means thinking quickly and deeply on your feet. There are several categories used to �grade� an answer but I�ve learned that, because I quickly adapt questioning to levels of answers, I generally can judge the abilities of the kids by looking at what types of questions I asked. The good judges, and I think I�m one of them although I�m still aspiring to excellent, pose their questions to get the kids to tell them all that they know and to express the concepts on as high a level as they can. The poor judges ask questions to stump the kids, as though to prove either that kids today are stupid or that the judges are really, really smart.

The awards were given out Monday night. Arizona�s team took first place and they were happy. No Wisconsin team had ever been in the top ten and the Wisconsin team came in third. They also were very, very happy. California was in the top ten and they were unhappy because they wanted to be in the top three. Hawaii was not in the finals but managed to get one of the unit awards and the kids were ecstatic. It�s all in your perspective and the perspective of the adults with you, I guess.

Teenagers, at their best and even at their almost-best, can be energizing, especially if you are not the chaperone who has to stay for the dance at the end of the competition. These teenagers were teenagers at their best. They were impressive. I hope I get a chance to judge next year.

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