Students from Hagerstown, Northeastern and Richmond schools qualified for Indiana’s civics bee after showcasing their knowledge and leadership ideas close to home.
Twenty middle school students and two alternates were selected to participate in Wayne County’s contest, which took place April 25 at Indiana University East in Richmond.
Taytem Rivera, a student at Richmond Community Schools’ Hibberd Program Building, won first. Second went to Hadley Nutty of Northeastern Middle School. Hagerstown Jr.-Sr. High School student Bella Mitchell came in third.
This was the second year for the local bee, which is organized by Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce.
To start the evening, students competed in two fast-paced rounds of multiple-choice questions testing their understanding of civics, government and community issues.
The top five scorers, which also included Brielle Moody of Northeastern and Elliott Gray of Hagerstown, advanced to the final Q&A round, where they presented topics they had explored in their submitted essays.
Finalists shared a brief overview and explained how their chosen problems and proposed solutions connect to the broader definition of civic responsibility.
The three judges — Richmond Mayor Ron Oler, County Commissioner Jeff Plasterer, and County Council member Cathy Williams — asked questions of each student before making their decision.
Taytem’s essay focused on the importance of protecting birthright citizenship and outlined steps she believes can help support immigration rights in America. Along with a $500 prize, Taytem will serve as Richmond’s “Mayor for the Day.”
Hadley, who discussed poverty, won $250; and Bella, who focused on animal shelters, received $125.
Hibberd teacher Andrew Cross said Taytem combines a strong passion for civics and helping others with an incredible work ethic and drive to exceed expectations.
“She demonstrated her deep understanding of civics during the quiz rounds and truly shined in the final round, delivering a powerful summary of her essay on protecting marginalized groups,” Cross said. “I’m incredibly proud of her and excited to see what she accomplishes at the state competition this summer.”
Indiana’s Civics Bee takes place July 30 in Indianapolis.
Wayne County civics bee participants
Hagerstown: Addison Schubert, Grace Mohr, Aaliyah Haskett, Colton Callahan, Lydia Herr, Elliott Gray, Honesti Arrington, Bella Mitchell, Cora Hokey, Layla Brown, Madyx Jarrett, Caden Nolan, alternate Catarina Bailey
Richmond Community Schools’ Hibberd Program Building: Josephine Wessel-McCoy, Taytem Rivera
Northeastern Middle School: Brielle Moody, Addison Schubert, Molly Wissel, Hadley Nutty, Fiona Breitenbach, Hayden Goble, alternate Lauren Boyce
Community: Audience members also tested knowledge. Northeastern history teacher Mark Blevins won, and his boss, Superintendent Matthew Hicks, finished second. Matt Hokey, a student participant from Hagerstown, was third. They received prizes from IU East, Purdue Polytechnic and Ivy Tech Richmond.
A version of this article appeared in the May 7 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.