BROOKINGS An eighth-grader from Mickelson Middle School won the South Dakota Civics Bee. Awurama Dwomoh won $1,000 at the event, hosted by the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce on June 6. She will go on to represent South Dakota at the national championships in Washington, D.C., this fall.
We are incredibly proud of all the students who competed in the civics bee, and especially thrilled to see Awurama as our state champion, Kelsey Doom, president and CEO of the chamber, said. Awurama will represent Brookings and South Dakota very well on the national stage. We look forward to cheering her on.
Aurelia Urban of Rapid City placed second, winning $750. Isaac Haufschild of Brookings placed third, winning $500. Nine finalists competed at the state championships as South Dakota participated in the national civics bee program for the first time this year.
This is an effort through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Doom said. I think weve all noticed that civics knowledge has been decreasing. It isnt up to par where it should be, frankly. They did a survey in 2020 that came up with some disturbing facts. The one that stuck out to me was that if adults were given the option to give up their right to vote or social media for a year, something like 65 to 70% said they would give up their right to vote.
She said they want to promote polite, political discourse at a younger age.
The ability to have a civil conversation about politics just isnt there anymore, Doom said. This civics bee is about putting civic virtues into an educational setting and a factual setting heres the facts about how things work and why things are the way they are. I think that brings a level of maturity to any conversation.
Middle schoolers from across the state submitted 750-word essays about improving their local communities. The top essayists qualified for regional events in Brookings and Rapid City. The regional finalists advanced to the state competition.
(At the state event), theres three rounds of competition, Doom said. The first two are multiple choice, with the questions getting harder and harder. Then the top few do the verbal, question-and-answer rounds with the judges about their essays.
The judges were: Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen; District 10 Sen. Liz Larson, D-Sioux Falls; District 17 Rep. Bill Shorma, R-Dakota Dunes; Kurt Hackemer, provost at USD; and Benjamin Jones, director of the state historical society.
Doom said the chamber received enthusiastic local support and hopes to participate again next year.
We couldnt have done it without Mickelson Middle School, she said. They were instrumental with giving teachers ideas on how to incorporate this into their classrooms. There were some teachers who made (the essays) mandatory. There were some teachers who gave kids three options for assignments and this was one of the options. Then there were some teachers who made it extra credit.
She said they also benefited from generous local sponsors.
We were really impressed by the local support financially, Doom said. Teesdale Law was our first platinum sponsor and just jumped on board no questions asked. We had great contributing sponsors Culvers, a family gave cash as well, and the Democratic and Republican parties both contributed. Civics is nonpartisan. Its factual. Its how things work. I think its really important that both parties came together and supported this.
She said the exact date of the national competition has yet to be announced, but the local chamber will help Dwomoh with expenses to ensure shes there representing South Dakota. In the meantime, Doom said shes recommending the program to other chambers throughout the state.
I sit on the chamber of commerce executive board for the state, and were making them all aware of it, she said. Were going to put out some information to all of the chambers in South Dakota to make sure they hear about it. Ill also be doing some individual emails to many of my colleagues, just letting them know how easy and do-able this is. Sometimes these projects seem like its a lot to chew, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce made it very easy.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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