Middle school students compete in Kansas State Finals of National Civics Bee

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Middle school students went head-to-head in the Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee on Thursday.

Students shared their ideas on how to improve their community. The 11 finalists came from local competitions in Wichita, Hutchinson, Overland Park, and Pittsburg. They participated in two rounds of multiple-choice civics questions.

In the third round, six finalists delivered three-minute presentations on their ideas for improving their communities. Five judges then asked them questions about their ideas.

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The winners of the Kansas State Finals are:

• 1^st Place and a $1,000 prize — Rishaan Panchal, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for making health care more accessible.

• 2^nd Place and a $500 prize: Pranjal Adhikari, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for improving mental health in his community and state.

• 3rd Place and $250: Caleb Bonnema, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for addressing antisemitism.

Panchal will represent Kansas at the national competition in Washington in November.

The Kansas Leadership Center, a Wichita-based nonprofit, partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and four chambers of commerce across Kansas to host the competition.

“This is the first time we’ve done this. One of my colleagues found this was an activity happening throughout the country, and it had not yet happened in Wichita or in the state of Kansas,” KLC President and CEO Kaye Monk-Morgan said. “We believe anyone can lead anytime, anywhere … so, it’s the first time and hopefully not the last.”

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She said the event goes beyond the competition to create leaders of tomorrow.

“We have to build the communities that we say we want, and protecting our democracy is everybody’s business. We believe that everyone’s expected to lead, even our young people,” Monk-Morgan said. “This is an opportunity for us to engage in the front end of the pipeline, making sure that folks are going to be able to make sure that our communities are safe and healthy and prosperous.”

Before the competition, the students participated in a half day of special programming sponsored by Fidelity Bank that explored “Our Place in Democracy.” It included conversations about the role everyone has in shaping the civic health of communities.

“The mission of the Kansas Leadership Center is to foster civic leadership so that we have safer, healthier and more prosperous communities,” Monk-Morgan said. “This program is an absolute extension to that, and to protect our rights, we have to understand what they are. If we’re going to demonstrate responsibility, we need to know what those responsibilities are, and civics education is the root of that.”

She said that being involved does not have to mean running for office.

“We believe that any and everybody is supposed to do this work, so I’m not calling for them to have a particular station in life, but wherever they end up serving in their careers or lives that they’re engaged in their community and they’re adding to what makes us strong.”

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