The Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry (CCCBI) once again partnered with the Pennsylvania Chamber and other local partners to host a regional Civics Bee on Feb. 20 as part of the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s National Civics Bee.

The event was held at Founding Forward (formerly Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge) and featured Technology Sponsor, Benchmark Federal Credit Union and Lunch Sponsor, The Connelly Foundation for the second year in a row. Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell, Marian Moskowitz, and Eric Roe served as judges for the live event.

The National Civics Bee is an annual competition that encourages young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. In the first round of the contest, local 6th, 7th and 8th grade students participated in an essay competition. Students were asked to identify a problem, challenge, or opportunity in their local communities and explain what they can do to contribute to its improvement based on founding principles and civic virtues. Judges then selected 20 finalists to participate in Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry’s local competition, which included two rounds of questions about government and history before the top 5 contestants moved into a live Q&A with the judges.

In 2023, the first and second place winners of the Chester County local bee, Nathaniel G. and Winston C., won first and third place at the Pennsylvania State Bee held in Harrisburg.

“The Chamber is excited to work with our community partners once again to engage the next generation of leaders in Chester County through a fun and interactive competition. We are committed to working with our younger generations to be more collaborative, inclusive, professional, and civic, and the local and state civics bees are prime examples of encouraging our future leaders to be involved in their communities. We are grateful for each of our community partners who helped us ensure this event was a huge success for the second year in a row,” said Laura Manion, President of CCCBI.

All 20 participants received brand new Samsung tablets and stands to use during the live event, and even take home, thanks to this year’s Technology Sponsor, Benchmark Federal Credit Union. “It has been our pleasure to provide 40 brand-new smart tablets to all Civics Bee finalists both this year and last year, when the Civics Bee began,” said Rebecca Worthington, Vice President of Community Relations at Benchmark Federal Credit Union. “Great job to all of this year’s participants! As the only federal credit union to exclusively serve Chester County, you make Benchmark Federal Credit Union so proud to invest in your future.”

The top 3 students from our local competition, Aayan K., Andrew F. and Shaun K., will advance to the state competition in Harrisburg on June 14, 2024. In Chester County’s competition, the first place winner received $1,000, second place won $500, and third place won $250. There are also cash prizes at the state competition.

“The Chamber is excited to partner with the Pennsylvania and U.S. Chamber, the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), our County Commissioners, Founding Forward, and our sponsors to continue supporting education, a key pillar in Chester County. This event is a wonderful opportunity for young students to shed light on the local issues our community is currently facing, and how to solve them. I am excited to see the students showcase their best knowledge of civics through friendly competition,” said Marianne Martelli, Director of Community Partnerships at the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry.

Martelli runs the Chamber’s Youth Leadership Program, which is an 8-month program that creates opportunities for all students in Chester County to prepare them for future careers and to prepare our next generation of community and business leaders. This year, over sixty students and 11 Chester County schools are represented in the program.

Learn more at the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry.