PJC celebrates Constitution Day 2014
Published or Revised October 22, 2014
Competition was fierce in Paris (top), Greenville (middle) and Sulphur Springs (bottom) as students vied to show off their knowledge and gain points.
A lively game put Paris Junior College students’ knowledge of the United States Constitution front and center Wednesday as part of PJC's celebration of Constitution Day, Sept. 17.
"We are drawing attention to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on this day in 1787," said PJC government instructor and event organizer Ruth Ann Alsobrook. "We are playing Constitution Jeopardy to test our students' knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Every year my U.S. Government students randomly survey 20 people on the street about what is in the Constitution and we find that they don't know what's in the document or confuse it with other documents such as the Declaration of Independence or Lincoln's Gettysburg address. We are showing that PJC students know a lot about the Constitution."
The Constitution Jeopardy Game was played from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Wednesday at PJC in Paris, the PJC-Greenville Center, and the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center as well as given to dual credit high school students in the Honey Grove, Cumby and Chisum school districts.
The computerized game was displayed on a giant screen, and teams raised paper placards to be called on and score points with correctly phrased questions to posted answers as is standard for the game of Jeopardy. The team with the highest score won a gift card. Students from Alsobrook's U.S. Government class dressed in period costume to help run the game, spot who was first to have an answer and keep score.
In Paris, the winning team included Rachel Watson, Jon David Wiley, and Elizabeth Dowds, all students in PJC's Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology.
"It was much like the Convention in 1787 where we did have to argue and fight over what answer was the right one and reach a conclusion," said Wiley. "It was a hard earned victory."
In second place in Paris were Krystal Freeman from the Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Student Association (HARTS) and Joel Mutchler from a U.S. Government class.
In Greenville, first place team members were Jacob Strickland, Cody Helm and Russell Nath; second place team members were Isaac Droblyn, Jake Magee and Trevor Daugherty.
The first place group at the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center consisted of Tyler Daehn, Peter Babb, and Rhiannon Smith; the second place group included Dorothy Dudley and Kris Koon.
High school dual credit students in Alsobrook’s classes also participated. Winners in Honey Grover were Natalie Ferguson, Alexis Maple, and Andrea Porcaya, out of nine players on three teams. In Chisum there were two teams, and the winners were Samantha Cooper and Aleckse Mikeuchev. In Cumby four teams competed with students from all over the school. The winning team was from the U.S. Government class: Victoria Garrett, Hope Greaves, Kimberlymae Ordona, Taylor Petty, Brianna Stone, and Ricky Wyly. At least 30 students and three teachers competed. All winners received gift cards to local restaurants.
