WHEREAS, The students of the Tahoma High School enrolled in the We the People: The Citizen and Constitution program have exhibited superior knowledge of the Constitution of the United States and the lessons taught by our forefathers; and

WHEREAS, On Saturday, January 12, 2019, the Tahoma High School team won the state We the People competition, the school's 10th consecutive state championship and its twenty-third state championship in the last twenty-five years; and

WHEREAS, These students will represent their state this spring at the thirty-second annual We the People finals in Washington, D.C., where they will aspire to uphold the standards of excellence for which Tahoma High School is known; and

WHEREAS, The Tahoma team is coached by Gretchen Wulfing, who was named Washington's Civic Educator of the Year in 2011 and was honored as one of Washington's Civic Educators of 2016, and who, having coached Tahoma's team for eleven years, has significantly deepened her students' knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, helping them build important 21st-century workplace skills, such as working cooperatively as a team, public speaking, managing conflict, and reaching consensus; and

WHEREAS, Studies have shown that students who participate in the We the People program score significantly higher than their peers on tests of both civic knowledge and civic dispositions, including respect for the rule of law, political attentiveness, civic duty, community involvement, commitment to government service, and the norms of political efficacy and political tolerance; and

WHEREAS, In 2018 the Tahoma team took seventh place at the We the People National Finals in Washington, D.C., marking the fifth time in the last seven years that the school has advanced to the top ten at the finals;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate honor Leah Billings, Hitesh Boinpally, Jeremiah Briere, Mahek Buddhdeo, Jacob Burianek, Aidan Callen, Victoria Chung, Melinda Day, Emily DeBolt, Elizabeth Diaz, Drew Fleming, Jacquelyn Gaither, Joshua Hren, Makenna Kilgallon, Gabriel Kilwein, Madeleine Magana, Sierra Muehlbauer, Estelle Neathery, Madeline Nielsen, Emma Percival, Laura Pierson, Joseph Ribera, Christina Ring, Briana Rogers, Eric Rogers, Laena Tieng, Adam Wengreen, and Anika Wilson as "Warriors of the Constitution"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the members of Tahoma High School's We the People team, team advisor Gretchen Wulfing, and Tahoma High School Principal Terry Duty to convey the respect of this body for a job well done and to wish them success in their continuing endeavors.