WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Five finalists out of over 50 qualifying essays from the Valley area will represent Walla Walla in the Washington State Civics Bee Finals in Olympia.
Students competed on Saturday, April 12 at Walla Walla Community College to get a chance at moving on to the State Civics Bee.
The finalists started in two 10-question rounds of civics trivia and one three-questions tiebreaker round.
The top five scoring finalists went on to complete the final portion where they gave a 2-3 sentence summary of their essay and answer questions presented by a panel of judges.
"After a difficult deliberation by the judges a 1st place trophy, a $500 check, a tablet and a spot at the State Civics Bee were awarded to George Rodegerdts of Garrison Middle School. A 2nd place trophy, a tablet and a $250 check were awarded to Hadley Williams of John Sager Middle School. A 3rd place trophy and a $150 check were awarded to Alice Rudin of Pioneer Middle School. The other top five finalists were Emory Plucker and NaOma Masferrer both presented with certificates and tablets, students at John Sager Middle School." The Walla Walla Valley Chamber said.
Walla Walla CEO & President, Arlene Alen expressed how proud she was of all the students that entered essays and the finalists for their dedication to studying and preparing for the Civics Bee. “I admire the initiative it took for these students to be a part of this event and take an interest in civics and their community. Getting to meet these students and see how some of them stepped outside of their comfort zone to be a part of such an important event. I truly believe this will expand students' interests well as their families in civics and will
mold terrific leaders for the future generations of the Valley. Alen also wanted to make a special recognition, “I would like to thank, the Walla Walla Valley School Superintendents and teachers for encouraging entire classes to submit essays. We hope more teachers will follow them and look forward to receiving even more essays submittals next year.”
Alen appreciates the support of the school districts for encouraging and supporting their middle school students and would like to thank everyone involved in making he event possible. “We could not have made this event happen without our local sponsors, our emcee, both our essay and live event judges, as well as Chamber Team and Ambassadors.”
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