Reno High Students prepare for national debate in Washington D.C

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Textualism, judicial restraint, originalism were all words thrown about inside one second floor classroom at Reno High.

The words may seem foreign and not easily understood.

At least those were the initial impressions of Asha Marryout. As a junior last year, she came to a class to see just what “We the People” was all about.

“I went in and sat in on the practices and honestly had no idea what anyone was talking about,” says Marryout. “So, my expectations were, it was going to be very hard. It was going to be stuff that was hard for me to understand.”

She applied any way and is in this year’s class which combines government studies and debate competition.

Students are engulfed in the U.S Constitution and then take that knowledge and plug it into U.S. Government, state governments, the courts, and other aspects of the law.

“You have to put in so much work, over breaks I’ll be staying at the university for like five hours a day five days a week,” says Spiros Anastassatos, a “We the People” student. “Though it may be a little stressful at times, it’s all worth it.”

An example of that: Winning the state “We the People” competition just two months ago.

The 26 kids are now preparing for the national competition in Washington D.C. in April.

“You get to argue with them all the time,” says Martin Peralta on the preparation with his classmates. “So, it’s a very good relationship I have with these people in this class. I think that allows for more in-depth learning.”

“I think however we are going to do… we will be awesome,” says Cruz Smith another “We the People” student. “And do the best we can do.”

And although they may not truly appreciate it yet, there will be life-long friendships made here, and memories of a class that was tough but made them better citizens.

But those thoughts are for another time.

The 26 students are hunkering down and preparing for that trip to the nation’s capital. They’ll represent their school and the state of Nevada. They are asking for the community’s help to pay for the trip.

For anyone who needs a reason to contribute, their teacher Richard Clark has many of them.

“These are kids that are curious,” says Clark. “These are kids that want a different experience. These are kids that are nerds. These are kids that are active in everything, and they are everything in between. They are competitive, they are well spoken. They are kind.”

To Contribute to Reno High, “We the People” students and their trip to Washington D.C. for national competition go to Qgiv, a unified fundraising platform for nonprofits. 2025 We the People Nationals – Reno High School

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