Cheyenne eighth-grader wins first Wyoming civics bee

“You know what’s funny, we might have done better in eighth grade than we’d do now,” Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce President Dale Steenbergen said. “These are things that are taught to us, but we don’t think about for a long, long time. We don’t think about it every day, but our democracy serves us every day.”

The event, sponsored by the local Chamber, brought four middle-schoolers together for a test of their civics knowledge. The first two rounds of the game consisted of 10 questions on the American legal system. Many of the questions involved major U.S. Supreme Court decisions like the 1962 case of Engel vs. Vitale, which set a legal precedent for prayer in schools.

In between rounds, incoming Chamber Board Chairperson Lexi Garrett, who hosted the event, asked the contestants to pick important moments in history that they’d like to be at, and to pick their favorite constitutional amendment from a list of three.

After the quiz portion, round three tasked contestants to give a three-minute speech about a pre-written essay that addressed a social problem and a potential solution for it. Once their speech was over, a panel of judges asked them on-the-spot questions about their plans and pushed them to defend their ideas.

The first presentation was given by Jackson Hole middle-schooler Tirzah Ellis, who talked about rampant phone use in her school and students being trapped in a “social media bubble.” She mentioned iPads that students in her school were allowed, which meant kids her age spent too much time on their screens. The solution, she said, was to create a club at her school called “Friends with Faces,” where students met without mobile devices to relate to each other in person.

After Ellis, Carey Junior High seventh-grader Peyton Meyer chose to address the issue of “banned books” in Laramie County. Meyer spoke about the importance of literary diversity, and said that students should be allowed free access to books of their choice, for the sake of expanding their horizons.

When questioned about the subject, Meyer was commended for picking a “hot button issue” by one judge. She said that her solution would be to organize with other students, and attend school board meetings to give board members a better understanding of the student perspective on the issue.

Heritage Christian Academy student Elijah Russell gave a presentation about two disparate health epidemics, which he said could both be solved by a free community center. Russell said he was struck by the high rate of obesity in the United States, along with the high rate of depression in Wyoming and the country. A community recreation center, where people could socialize and exercise, could address both of those issues by giving people a free place to meet and exercise. He added that the center could be staffed by volunteers and funded by grants, donors or a sales tax increase.

The final presenter was McCormick Junior High eighth-grader Ada Cox, who presented a solution for a lack of voter turnout, particularly among young people. Cox said that polls should be open for two weeks, giving working people the opportunity to vote at a time of their choosing. She also suggested the idea of people automatically being registered to vote when they turn 18 years old.

Cox fielded the most questions from judges, answering questions about voter fraud and a lack of interest in voting among young people without much hesitation.

After a short period of deliberation, first-, second- and third-place awards, as well as honorable mention, were presented as follows:

• Honorable mention: Ellis
• Third-place: Meyer
• Second-place: Russell
• First-place: Cox

The first-place winner earned $1,000 from the local Chamber and will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Civics Bee for an opportunity to win $50,000.

“This (will be) the first one,” Steenbergen said of Wyoming sending a student to the nation’s capital to compete. “We look forward to the Wyoming winner doing well in D.C.”

“I have the type of personality where I always feel bad if I win,” Cox said. “I can’t explain it, like, ‘Oh, maybe someone else should have it.’ It’s good, though, taken and appreciated. But, also, I’m surprised.”

Cox told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that she prepared by studying online civics exams over the past few days.

“It would’ve helped to have been alive during some of those events, like if you remember (things) from the ‘70s and ‘80s,” Cox said. “... What I love about these kinds of things is that I can learn more about what I need to learn.”

Cox added that, even though she has a passion for civics and political subjects, she’s more scientifically oriented.

As for her passion for voting, her mother, Andra Cox, told the WTE that that came from an atmosphere of open discussions about politics and current events with her child.

“I think that’s a lot of what helps propagate this kind of thing is that we’re pretty (outspoken) about what we think and why we think it,” Andra Cox said. “She’s very quick to pick up on it.”

“I’m kind of opinionated, which is not necessarily a great thing,” her daughter replied.

“But, she can back it up, too, which is really fun to see,” Andra Cox concluded.