CIVICS BEE

e rst-ever decline in civics prociency on last year’s NAEP exams led communities and educators alike to worry and intervene.

And while Barbara Taylor, who teaches Advanced Placement U.S. History, honors government and honors geography at Pomona High School in Arvada, is disheartened by student performance in civics, but she also sees students actively pursuing an understanding of government systems every day in her classes.

Low NAEP scores aren’t “a very accurate re ection of the interest that real kids have in their country,” said Taylor, who has been teaching for 23 years and also serves as treasurer for Colorado Council for the Social Studies.

“ ey really want to understand what’s happening to them, what we see in the community,” she added.

Rather than educating students about civics and history just through textbooks, Taylor builds students’ knowledge by connecting their learning to the real world. at includes putting students through a legal simulation with help from University of Colorado law students, who challenge them to look at evidence and craft arguments based on school-related issues, including the question of which bathrooms should be available to kids who identify as transgender. at also includes pushing students to trace a certain topic throughout its arc of history, whether fashion, food, hairstyles or issues involving the LGBTQ+ community.

She has also seen a resurgence in interest among high schoolers studying civics that she attributes to the deep-seated division roiling communities and in aming politics at every level.

“ e divide we have in this country is in part because people don’t know how to have a civil conversation, and they’re easily intimidated by people who seem to have information and seem to know things,” Taylor said. “And because we don’t know how to talk, we stop talking. And so the consequences are dire.”

All the clatter of outside political fury was absent during the civics bee, when students were asked how history has shaped democracy, before seven nalists presented ideas to solve community issues, drawing from essays they had written. Judges peppered them with questions about their proposed solutions, which addressed the lack of a ordable housing in Colorado, the rising cost of eggs and the ways educators could discreetly help students a ected by mental health issues, among other topics. at knowledge is key when looking both backward and forward, Sriram added.

Sriram, champion of the statewide bee, who took home a $1,000 prize, spoke of the need for civility among politicians and across the country during his presentation. His grandparents used to see the United States as a place where everyone would greet strangers and be nice to each other, he said after the competition. Now, that sense of kindness is largely fading.

“It’s still there but not as much,” Sriram said.

Runner-up Joseph Drexler, a seventh grader at Darren Patterson Christian Academy in Buena Vista, raised concerns about Cha ee County housing becoming out of reach for local residents, noting that 64% of people in the county spend more than half of their income on housing.

“We sometimes look for housing, and it’s crazy how expensive all the houses are, and I thought, whoa, these should be less,” Joseph, 13, said after the bee.

He and Sriram were jittery with nervous excitement after spending hours looking over a study packet and rehearsing their speeches.

Joseph, who won $500, said he will use the knowledge he gained from the bee to help him one day vote, prepare for a possible career in government and educate others about civics.

“You just have to know things about the government before you can make really good choices about the government,” he said.

It’s critical to study civics, he said, “so you know how our country was founded and not make the same mistakes they made in the past and make better decisions in the future.” e Colorado Sun co-owns Colorado Community Media as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. It is a reader-supported news organization dedicated to covering the people, places and policies that matter in Colorado. Read more, sign up for free newsletters and subscribe at coloradosun.com.

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