Sixth to eighth grade students took the stage, and answered questions about the constitution and government. The top five finalists spoke and answered questions on their submitted essays. This was Tristan Hiner’s second time in the Civics Bee and the second time he placed first.  

“It feels great honestly. This is my second time winning first place, which is kind of the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me. . . So after all that luck, I can't believe what's going to happen in Harrisburg. Hopefully I'll win there too, who knows,” Hiner said. 

Second place Mariya Hoja said her favorite parts about participating were the people and the chance to share her ideas. 

“I would say, just the experience overall, like being able to be here with all the people, with some of my friends, and just sharing my ideas about our community and about our world -- what I think we should do to improve it,” Hoja said.

The vice president of economic development for the Erie Regional Chamber of Growth Partnership Jake Rouch said there are growing issues debated everyday, and the Civics Bee teaches kids how they might share their ideas.  

“Not only is it important for them to get passionate and get more people passionate to get more perspectives, but it's equally important to have them do it in a civil way, right? So there’s civics and then there's civility. This is a really wonderful way to debate ideas. That's how the country got so great, but to do it in a manner that is, you know, very positive and constructive. This is a great experience. Kind of a first step into that public process for all of these students,” Rouch said.