The Western Kentucky regional competition of the National Civics Bee® will be held beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 20 at The Carson Center in Paducah. The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce was selected as the host for the regional competition and the Presidential Sponsors for the event are Data Records Management Services and The Carson Center. The public is invited to watch the competition.

Students representing 10 area middle schools were selected for the finals based on a 500-word essay about a problem facing their community and how a citizen might solve that problem.

Finalists in the National Civics Bee® include:

• Ava Bogard, 7th grade, Calloway County Middle School
• Hillary Bohannon, 8th grade, Calloway County Middle School
• Gauge Day, 6th grade, Browning Springs Middle School
• Emma Dee, 7th grade, St. Mary Middle School
• Lilly Gibson, 8th grade, South Hopkins Middle School
• Aleigha Hughes, 8th grade, James Madison Middle School
• Maddyx Jett, 8th grade, St. Mary Middle School
• Sawyer Leet, 7th grade, Lone Oak Middle School
• Sam Marcum, 8th grade, Paducah Middle School
• Addisyn McReynolds, 7th grade, Lewisburg School
• Carley Milam, 7th grade, Reidland Middle School
• Meredith Paxton, 7th grade, St. Mary Middle School
• Zoe Pendley, 6th grade, Browning Springs Middle School
• Michael Shoulta, 8th grade, St. Mary Middle School
• Jackson Teal, 6th grade, Browning Springs Middle School
• Ella Vandermeulen, 8th grade, Lone Oak Middle School
• Karsen Vaughan, 8th grade, Lewisburg School
• Trinity Weigel, 7th grade, Reidland Middle School
• Connor Woods, 6th grade, Heath Middle School

The Paducah Chamber was chosen by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host the Western Kentucky regional competition.  The Western Kentucky Region includes the following 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.

Essays were judged by a panel of community leaders and the top scorers were then invited to the live quiz competition. During the live event, students will compete in two rounds of multiple choice, civics-based quiz questions. The first two rounds will advance students based on the accuracy of their answers. A panel of judges will score students during the third round.   

The five students with the highest scores at the end of round two will advance to the third and final round. The third round will include questions from the panel of judges regarding the student’s essay. The student with the highest cumulative score at the end of round three will be announced as the first-place winner. First place will receive $750, second place will receive $500, and third place will receive $250. All students will receive an Amazon Fire tablet, courtesy of our Liberty sponsor, Comcast.   

The top three winners at the Western Kentucky regional competition will advance and compete against other middle school students from across the state at the Kentucky Chamber National Civics Bee® during the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville in August.

The National Civics Bee® is an initiative by The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the competition begins at 10 a.m. at The Carson Center. For information about the event, visit paducahchamber.org or email info@paducahchamber.org.