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Classes from throughout Florida at the middle and high school levels may register to participate in mock congressional hearings to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Center provides grade-level specific hearing questions for middle and high school classes. Teachers prepare their classes to respond to specific questions based on the rules of competition. Each class should be divided into six groups and assigned to one of the six corresponding content areas.

The congressional hearing model requires students to prepare a preliminary statement delivered during the simulation. Following the prepared statement, a question and answer segment follows with judges, attorneys, and professors as well as other community members.

For the past several years, the hearings have been conducted virtually at the request of teachers to reduce costs. Last year, we held a hybrid model. This year, we are holding a virtual competition for all schools due to scheduling of some district competitions. The state hearings will be held on Friday, January 30, 2026, for both high school and middle school students.

National competitions for the We the People…the Citizen and the Constitution program will be held in 2026 for eligible teams that advance from the state competition.

The Justice Teaching Center hosts state hearings for middle and high school classes. Review the rules and hearing questions provided on this page. Winning schools from the state showcase are eligible to participate at the national level.

Training and professional development opportunities are available for teachers in Florida. Contact apitts@flsouthern.edu. Please let us know if you have any questions, are new to the program and need training, or have specific needs to participate.

The 2025-2026 Mock Congressional Hearings will be held at 911ßÉßɱ¬ÁÏ.

Separate virtual hearings will be held as needed. There are different questions provided for middle school and high school. Questions are available on this page. While there are three questions listed per each of the six units, classes will only be asked one of the three questions at the state finals. Details provided.

At the high school level, we are using the questions developed by the Center for Civic Education, national administrators of the We the People program. In Florida, the first of the three questions listed for each unit will be used at the district competition level. If you do not have a district competition, you do not need to prepare for the first question in each high school unit unless you would like your class to do so for depth of coverage. We will use question 2 or 3 in each unit for the high school level at the state competition.  But we will not let you know which question will be asked. So, students should be prepared to answer both questions.

At the middle school level, we have posted three questions for each unit. We will only ask one question at the state competition middle school level. Of course, you can prepare using all of the questions for depth of coverage. At the middle school level, we will use the following questions at the state competition. These are questions adapted for our standards.

• Unit 1 MS Q-2
• Unit 2 MS Q-1
• Unit 3 MS Q-2
• Unit 4 MS Q-3
• Unit 5 MS Q-2
• Unit 6 MS Q-1

Please make sure you complete the registration form. We will be hosting periodic meetings monthly for additional information. 

Rules for High School Competition Sample Scoring Rubric Follow Up Question Starters Class Roster Form State High School Questions Middle School Hearing Questions