Yulee High School dominated the Constitution Bowl on Wednesday, leading the five-team competition wire to wire to claim the title. In the first 30-minute round, Yulee scored 108 points, while a team of home-educated students finished second with 86. Rounding out the first round were Fernandina Beach (43), West Nassau (41) and Hilliard (20).
In the second and final round, Yulee scored 224 points to beat out the home-educated students, who scored 216.
The U.S. Constitution Bowl is an annual competition between all four Nassau County high schools and a homeschooled team organized by the U.S. Constitution Scholarship Foundation. Similar to the old “College Bowl” format, students compete for thousands of dollars in scholarship awards by answering questions about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and key Supreme Court decisions.
The competitive bowl comes after participating students complete the University of US afterschool education program and apply through the foundation’s scholarship program.
The first U.S. Constitution Bowl was in 2019, and West Nassau High School was the winner. For the last two years, Yulee High School has won the competition.
“A small group of us got together almost nine years ago to form the U.S. Constitution Scholarship Foundation and the University of US. We had a mission to educate high school students and the community about the Constitution and our heritage,” said Howard Pines, dean of the University of US. “Now with eight years of University of US classes behind us, we have given out over $250,000 in scholarships and awards. This year we will give out over $50,000 in scholarships and awards.”
The U.S. Constitution Scholarship Foundation awarded each member of the winning team a $1,500 scholarship for the college of their choice. The Yulee team was coached by Thomas Blake, and team members included Jacob Clayton, Reagan Jeffers, Lyla Johnson and Richard Guo.
All members of the second-place home-educated team received a $500 scholarship. The team included Amelia Burbo, Amelia Hawkes, Eva Hawkes and Lauren Walters and was coached by Alyssa Burbo.
Third-place West Nassau team members were awarded a $250 scholarship each. The West Nassau team included Amy Cullen, Justin Housend, Hailey Santos and Brody Singley and was coached by Caleb Bryan.
The Fernandina Beach team included Andrew Lasserre, Andrew Mirfield, Ronan Parkinson and Eliza Wilking, with coach Steven Rathmann. The Hilliard team included Jesus Berenguer-Lopez, Anderson Craft, Lily Faircloth and Tristan Horton and coach Erin Schreiber.
“I am so grateful to the entire board for the University of US and the Constitution Bowl giving over $300,000 in scholarships, after tonight, to our students,” said Superintendent of Nassau County Schools Kathy Burns. “More importantly, what it does academically, it’s like an enrichment to what’s already going on in our schools.”
Fernandina Beach Mayor Bradley Bean served as master of ceremonies, and presiding competition judges were Judge Jenny Higginbotham, Judge Jim Daniel and Judge Adrian Soud. Sharyl Wood and Jessica Raspa served as scorekeepers.
The Wednesday night Constitution Bowl was also available to the community through a livestream at the Amelia Island Club’s Atlantic Room.
To view the Constitution Bowl replay provided by Stan Cottle, CCOM Marketing Communications, visit www.uscsf.net/constitution-bowl.
Website www.uscsf.net provides information on the University of US program and scholarships available to high school juniors and seniors or email info@uscsf.net.
tdishman@fbnewsleader.com