Teams from two Oregon high schools are co-champions in a national civics competition, after a scoring error was discovered days after the contest ended.
The constitution teams from Portland’s Lincoln High School and Salem’s Sprague High were named co-winners when results were re-calculated.
The two high schools represented Oregon in the “We the People” civics competition, which tests teams’ understanding of the U.S. Constitution. The competition has been held annually for the past four decades, with the most recent final taking place from April 9-11.
The exterior of a building of the Lincoln High School in Portland, Ore., on April 17, 2025. The school was promoted from the third place to first at the "We the People" national civics competition final after the organizer corrected a scoring error.
Rob Manning / OPB
In an initial announcement earlier this week, the two-person team from Sprague High had already been named national champion. Lincoln had placed third, according to the competition’s judges, but that scoring wouldn’t hold.
According to reporting by the New York Times and The Oregonian/Oregonlive, Lincoln High coach Patrick Magee-Jenks uncovered what he believed to be an error in the scoring calculations, depriving Lincoln of points.
With the correction, Lincoln was elevated into a first-place tie with Sprague.
No team ended up losing ground. What had been the second-place finisher, Fishers High School from Indiana, remained in second. They were joined by Denver East, from Colorado.
The Center for Civic Education blamed a “display error” which cost Lincoln 15 points, and a “sorting error” that entered a different team’s score where Denver East’s score should have gone.
“We have completed a thorough audit of all team and unit scores and confirmed that no additional scoring errors occurred,” the civic education organization said in a statement, after changing the results.
Center officials mentioned steps they intend to take to ensure there aren’t such problems in the future, including publicly posting results right away, as well as “strengthening our score verification and auditing procedures for all future competitions.”
A statement on Lincoln High’s Facebook page celebrates the win and congratulates Sprague as co-champion.
“Our students at LHS & Sprague became great colleagues and friends amidst a serious competition, modeling what’s possible for our country!” the statement said.