Arlo Fravien, 13, an eighth-grade student at Walton Intermediate School in Garden Grove, has won the competition to represent California in the National Civics Bee in Washington, D. C. in November.
Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the National Civics Bee competition encourages middle-school students to flex their civics knowledge, engage in civics and contribute to their communities. Top performing students advance through local and state rounds, culminating in the national competition. Students are quizzed about the Constitution, federal and state government and other topics and present their ideas for solving a community issue.
Competing successfully in the civics knowledge portion of the competition, Fravien proposed that a “trash force” of volunteers be organized to clean up Orange County parks. His first volunteer clean-up took place in June at the Haster Basic Recreational Park in Garden Grove. To recruit volunteers, Fravien created and distributed flyers as well as reaching out to community civic organizations. Among those responding to his call to action was Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein and members of the city council.
When interviewed by the Orange County Register, Fravien said, “I feel proud and honored that I get to represent California because when I entered the competition, I wasn’t sure I was going to get first place.” He placed second in the regional competition held at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda in mid-March.
Fravien is spending much of his time preparing for the national competition in November in the nation’s capital where he and others will compete for cash prizes.
The National Civics Bee was initiated as a pilot competition in 2022 and has expanded to thirty-nine states. This was the first year the competition was held in California with the finals conducted at the Ronald Reagan President Library in Simi Valley.
Go, Arlo!