Spending New Year’s studying pays off for Milford High We the People team

When most high school students were sleeping away the first day of the new year, six members of Milford High School’s We the People team met in coach Dave Alcox’s kitchen to discuss the First Amendment. Over cookies and coffee, they touched on subjects ranging from protesting at Milford High to the recent case of Bigfoot’s free speech on Mount Monadnock. This meeting wasn’t a one-time occurrence. Senior Melissa Gray estimates she put in more than 40 hours of work outside class, which meets for 90 minutes five days a week. Other students ran on similar schedules, meaning more than 1,000 hours of would-be Facebook browsing and TV watching were dedicated to learning the intricacies of American government, a rarity for high school students. On Jan. 6, the payoff of vacation homework came when Milford participated in the state We the People competition, beating Nashua High North and John Stark Regional, of Weare, to become the state champion. This is Milford’s 10th win in 14 years. The team is composed of 33 juniors and seniors, who are divided into six units.