By admin 
On the morning of July 23, seven middle school students from across the state displayed more civics knowledge than many internet users put together.
Read more South Carolina students show off knowledge at National Civics Bee state finals
They were competing at South Carolina’s inaugural edition of the National Civics Bee, a three-round contest where the middle school aged competitors answered a variety of civics questions and presented proposals for improving their communities, taking questions from a panel of judges.
Riley Metcalfe, a 14-year-old student at Greenville’s Christ Church Episcopal School that won a regional bee to qualify, took home the $1,000 prize.
Her proposal, based on an essay she wrote to apply for the regional bee, focused on lack of access to quality internet for low-income families in an increasingly digital world, or the digital divide.
Metcalfe called for more widespread free public Wi-Fi, tech-lending libraries, digital literacy classes and strengthened rural broadband connections. She said she thought her personal passion and timely subject helped her stand out to the judges.
“Having the heart and having the knowledge about the topic really helped, I was able to create my proposal based off something that I have witnessed in my community,” Metcalfe said. “I had a proposal that was actionable and something that wasn’t too far out and it was very current. The digital divide is a very current issue.”
Those judges included state senator Tameika Issac Devine, W. Keller Kissam from Dominion Energy, Sunny Philips from South Carolina Manufactures and Commerce, Linwood Thomas from Luck Companies, USC professor Christopher Tollefson and Allen Fore from Kinder Morgan.
Fore, who has served as a judge at several state bees, said he believed it was the first event he’d attended where all the contestants were young women.
Mary Capers Bledsoe, who serves as executive director of the Greenville-based South Carolina YMCA Youth in Government program and helped bring the bee to the state, said girls have been joining YIG programs at a slightly higher rate nationwide.
“It’s a self-selection program,” Bledsoe said. “The fact we had a lot of young women didn’t surprise me, but I was surprised to see seven young women, and they did beautifully.”
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Bledsoe said her organization works with schools around the state on civic education and participation programs, serving about 2,500 students each year.
Bledsoe said she hopes the bee only gets bigger in subsequent years.
“We are looking forward to bigger and better, more young people more regional bees next year,” Bledsoe said. “We can’t wait to see where this goes.”
The contest took place at USC’s law school, hosted by former South Carolina governor and Nobel Peace Prize winner David Beasley, who said he hopes the contestants come away motivated to remain civically engaged and serve as leaders in communities.
“I want to inspire them and help them understand that you can and you will make a difference,” Beasley said. “All you’ve got to do is step forward, speak out, be heard, do it respectfully, but know the systems and the principles and the values that build a democracy.”
Metcalfe said she saw immense value in civics education for all kinds of people, especially government officials.
“Before you make the laws, you have to be able to express your ideas,” Metcalfe said. “You have to be able to have civil discourse with other people, be respectful. Those civic virtues that we talk about are crucial to how our government works.”
She said her study process, which included resources like the Civic Trust and Bill of Rights institute, taught her many different lessons.
“I’ve learned an incredible amount of civic knowledge that I never knew before,” Metcalfe said. “I now know a lot more about how our government works, but I also learned how to properly have a conversation with people and advocate for your beliefs and how to create for a case for what you think should change in society”
Metcalfe is moving on to the national finals in Washington D.C. this fall, where she will represent South Carolina and compete for a $100,000 college scholarship.
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