SK chamber joins in 2024 expansion of Civics Bee
Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 28, 2023
The application remains open for junior high students to enter a civics competition that the South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce is calling a first-of-its-kind opportunity for the local community.
The bee works off the concept of the traditional spelling bee, testing the students’ knowledge of civics. The first round of competition is an essay competition for the 6th, 7th and 8th grade participants. Judges will select 20 finalists for the local competition, a live quiz event. The top three students will then advance to state competition.
“What it is is they write a 500-word essay on a problem in the community and how citizens can help out with it,” SK chamber president Matt Murphy said. “It’s going to be super cool, and it continues to grow.”
The deadline to submit is Jan. 8, 2024, and the live local competition is scheduled for March in Bremerton.
“We believe that informed and active citizens make for a strong country, a strong economy, and a strong workforce and that our continued prosperity depends on the strength of all three. Through the Bee, we are promoting greater civic knowledge in Washington State and celebrating our civic pride,” a chamber release says
The chamber is just one of three in Western Washington participating. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation had a national competition in a 2022 pilot program and included Washington in a nine-state expansion this year. The competition is expanding to 28 states in 2024.
