Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today congratulated students from Catherine McAuley High School in Portland who will represent Maine in the National Civics Competition on the U.S. Constitution. The program is sponsored by the We the People Programs division of the Center for Civic Education. "We are excited that students from Catherine McAuley will be representing the State of Maine at a national competition in Washington, D.C.," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. "Knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, its history, and the foundations of American democracy is invaluable. We are sure this will be a memorable experience for all students involved and we wish them the best of luck in the competition." This class of high school students, led by teacher Joe Wagner, will represent Maine in a three-day academic competition on the Constitution and Bill of Rights in Washington, D.C. More than 1200 students will demonstrate their knowledge of constitutional principles and their relevance to contemporary issues in a simulated congressional hearing before panels of judges composed of constitutional scholars, lawyers, journalists, and government leaders from across the nation. The primary goal of "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution" is to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation's elementary and secondary students. The instructional program enhances students' understanding of the history and foundations of the institutions of American constitutional democracy. The culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing in which students "testify" before a panel of judges. Students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles and have opportunities to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues. Since the inception of the We the People program in 1987, more than twenty-six million students and one hundred thousand educators have participated in this innovative course of study. The program enjoys the active participation of members of Congress, as well as support from educational, professional, business, and community organizations across the nation.