Students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade students in public, private and home schools in Kentucky are invited to apply to a regional competition of the 2023 National Civics Bee. The Civics Bee, an initiative by The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is being held in Western Kentucky this spring. The Civics Bee is aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. Students must submit a 500-word essay by midnight, February 24, to participate.

The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the U.S. Chamber, is coordinating the regional competition. It is open to the following Western Kentucky counties: Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Graves, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg, Union and Webster.

Students can submit their essays online at http://bit.ly/3hoqBsu. The deadline for student essay submissions is before midnight on February 24.

After the application portal closes, the essays will be reviewed by a panel of judges and the top 20 students in Western Kentucky will be selected to test their civics knowledge and compete in a regional, live quiz competition to be held in Paducah on April 22.

The finalists and top winners will receive various prizes, including $500 cash for the first-place student. The top three winners at the Paducah competition will then have a chance to compete against other middle school students from across the state at the state level competition in Frankfort.

Schools have received information and have been encouraged to distribute information about the essay application process to their students.

For more information on the essay topic, competition rules and prizes, and for students to submit essays, visit paducahchamber.org/ncb.