"I think our group understood from the beginning we couldn't agree completely with both sides," Lina Lee said. She said the group had to arrive at an answer all four members agreed on and could explain to an audience.

"You could say 'no.' I mean it wasn't like you had to say 'yes.'" John Quinlivan said.

"Their approach was kind of a collective," Metzler said of the group that included Quinlivan and Lee, the group that won the national contest.

Metzler said other groups who worked on the project in his class focused on one topic to provide an answer, such as "pop culture." Another group chose to answer "no" to the question, Metzler said, answering that America started with "great promise when it was set forth, but is woefully short on achieving that ideal."

"Our goal was to convey we bring the best of the best to our country," Quinlivan said of his group. The basis of the group's argument was an analogy of salad. Each component was a part of the salad and the government was "salad dressing," holding the rest of the components together.

Quinlivan proved the 'best of the best' theory from the perspective of sports. "We have Americans playing games (baseball, basketball, golf), yet we draw people from Japan and anywhere around the world, because it (America) is a showcase for talent," Quinlivan said of sports.

Bob Gaul came from the perspective of religion, science, government and music. He focused on the multitude of religions in the country and the fact that "good ideas come out of America."

Jason Hewitt produced the video the group sent to the group holding the contest, and researched government and science. "I just wanted to show how we....as a country , have evolved," Hewitt said. "In my estimation, I would say we've gotten better."

Lee researched science, economics and people. She said immigration in America has led to "a wealth of diverse cultures." Of the country she also said, "We have the ability to pretty much get anything we want."

"We went (to the contest) thinking we would get some pencils and a t-shirt," Lee said. The groups that did not win the contest did receive those items as a consolation prize, Metzler said.

Yet Lee, Quinlivan, Gaul and Hewitt's group won an "almost" all-expense-paid trip to New York City for the weekend of May 9. The trip should include a tour of ABC studios and a chance to meet John Stossel, possibly at his house.

"Then we're going to look up soaking up New York as much as possible," Metzler said. Possible stops include Ground Zero, Chinatown, Marvel Comics and other tourist sites.

They also won $25 each and t-shirts, which they wore Thursday as they talked about the project. "It's a good thing the 'Is' is on here," lee said of the "Is America #One?" logo. The back of the shirt displays the phrase "Ask me."

"It ('Ask me' on the back) forces you to be informed and have a view," Metzler said.

Hewitt said he learned "cooperation" through working on the project, "because toward the end we were down to the wire...and we had to pull through."

Lee said the group had to approach the topic "from different angles and back it up."

"It's about how you back up what you believe in," Lee said. She said this multi-disciplinary approach is what Metzler's 'Theory of Knowledge' is all about."

"It (the project) highlights that everything that comes at us is very gray and we are forced to look at it and weigh the issues," Metzler said.

"Issues won't come at them (students) in little prepackaged boxes of language arts, natural science, history and ethics," he said. "They'll come all at once, and these young people will have to synthesize the information and formulate it into a cohesive, cogent and, at times, creative response."