Juniper Ward of Corvallis won the 2025 Oregon Civics Bee yesterday and has earned the right to represent Oregon at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C. Ward was one of ten students who had qualified to participate in this round of the competition, which was moderated by Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read.
Presented by U.S. Bank and organized by Oregon Business and Industry in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the competition began in November 2024.
Sixth, seventh and eighth graders throughout Oregon were invited to submit essays explaining how they’d use civics principles to address problems they identified in their communities. A panel of judges chose the best essays, and their writers were invited to participate in the contest’s two regional civics bees, one in Tigard and the second in Eugene. The top finishers in those two bees qualified for this week’s Oregon Civics Bee, which took place at Willamette University.
The Oregon Civics Bee consisted of a quiz-style competition moderated by Secretary of State Read. The top five scorers then made the case for their essays in front of a panel of judges, which included Jessica Adamson, senior vice president for government affairs at CFM Advocates; David Swartley, senior vice president and head of state government relations at U.S. Bank; and Angela Wilhelms, president and CEO of Oregon Business & Industry.
In her essay, Ward presented several proposals to clean up the Willamette River, including the installation of additional trash cans and better control of wastewater.
The top three finishers in the Oregon Civics Bee received cash prizes. Juniper received $1,000, runner-up Emeryn Tibbs of Portland received $500, and third-place finisher Naina Bhanoo of Corvallis received $250.
Secretary of State Read also presented all of today’s participants with copies of the Oregon Blue Book.
The National Civics Bee will take place on Nov. 10-11 at U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C.
By Erik Lukens
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