OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma’s best and brightest middle schoolers demonstrated their excellence in Oklahoma’s 2025 National Civics Bee State Finals, with one student winning $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national championship.
Mustang Central Middle School eighth grader Alana Haikin claimed first place, winning the competition’s top cash prize and a spot in the national finals in our nation’s capital.
“It was an amazing experience to be a participant, but winning was rewarding and a testament to all the hard work I put into it,” Haikin said.
Leena Atiyeh, a student at Stillwater Junior High School, won second place, and Ella Smith, a student at Lawton Central High, won third place.
The Civics Bee State Finals was held Monday morning at Innovation Hall in Oklahoma City’s Innovation District. Nine finalists competed. Former Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor, former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy and Candor Public Relations President Ally Glavas presided over the competition as judges.
The State Chamber of Oklahoma hosted the Civics Bee. The Civic Trust® of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation partnered with The State Chamber to present the competition in Oklahoma.
“We’re so excited to encourage Oklahoma students to engage in civics with this unique platform to demonstrate their knowledge,” said Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber. “It’s an awesome opportunity for students who want to get active in government. We’re hoping this event will grow annually and encourage more and more Oklahoma students to get involved.”
Civics education is more important now than it ever has been before, Taylor said.
“We are—I’m sorry to say—moving away from citizenship and civics education. And it’s one of the reasons I’m happy to be helping with this, because it concentrates on civics education. Unfortunately, kids growing up today are not learning about government and civics like they should, in my view,” Taylor said. “Students in secondary schools need to learn about citizenship and civics so they can understand government and be informed citizens. I think it’s more important than ever now.”
The exceptional students who were finalists in the competition demonstrated their excellent understanding of civics by answering several challenging questions correctly and giving thoughtful speeches about the essay each wrote for the competition.
Civics is a core part of every student’s academic and personal growth, Haikin said.
“We students are affected by government decisions and how [the government] works every day. So, getting to know how that works and figuring out how laws are made and the things that effect us is really important,” Haikin said. “Civics is a great thing for people to learn, not just kids. Everybody is affected by government, and having these civic values makes them a better citizen of the community.”
She prepared for the competition by delving deep into the printed study guide that was provided to the finalists. She practiced with her parents in preparation for the essay questions, and also practiced her responses to the questions she anticipated the judges would ask.
Haikin hopes to become a psychologist in the future. Her essay was on the importance of mental health awareness and support. She gave a speech on her essay topic in the third round of the competition and answered the judges’ questions about the topic and its significance in society.
“Mental health affects everybody. Everybody has a mind, and each mind is different and very intricate. It affects people because we lose people to suicide every day. People need good minds to contribute to the government and contribute to their schools and lives [in general],” she said.
Haikin’s father, Benjamin Haikin, said he was surprised to find out about the Civics Bee and especially surprised by how much work his daughter had to put in to prepare for it.
“This is on top of everything else she’s already doing with [school semester] finals coming in and her volleyball tryouts. It’s turned out to be a fantastic experience. I’m really proud of Alana and all her hard work,” he said.
Haikin said she looks forward to the national finals in D.C. and will make sure that she is ready for the challenge.
“I’m definitely going to crank up the heat, get a little bit more involved and practice a lot more,” she said.
Atiyeh plans to become a doctor. She delivered her speech on the importance of health care.
“Everyone deserves health care. It’s an important part of life. For the people who can’t afford health care, it doesn’t mean that they don’t need it,” she said.
Atiyeh’s father, Hasan Atiyeh, said participating in the state finals is a great achievement for his daughter and the other finalists.
“She worked hard on this. She’s engaged and has passion for the topic that she discussed and wanted to present. It’s something we supported as a family, and her school was great as well,” he said. “She’s very well-organized and managed her time well.”
Atiyeh said civics is an invaluable part of her education.
“I think it’s important that we understand how government works so that we can know how to change things,” she said.
Finalist Emma Jewel Davidson, an eighth grade student at Mustang North Middle School, loves civics and history. She is especially passionate about Black history, which was a primary focus of her essay and speech.
“I feel like school should do a little bit more [when it comes to Black history]. Most of the research I’ve done on Black history, I have done myself in my own private time instead of at school,” she said. “And so, I feel like more subjects based on Black history and African American history should be more important to our school districts and should be interpreted a little bit more.”
Davidson’s parents, Katie and Joshua Davidson, spoke about how proud they are of their daughter, her passion for civics and history and her reaching the state finals.
“She’s loved history since she was young, and we didn’t even have to motivate her. She motivated herself, and she just likes to learn so much. I couldn’t be prouder,” Katie Davidson said.
Oklahoma’s school systems have a duty to emphasize civic education, Taylor said.
He said civics is as important as math and English to a young person’s education, that it’s essential to preserving the principles of our nation and the rules of governance.
“Our form of government is unique in the world. Even though we’re relatively young, we’re the longest surviving democracy. And we are, in my view, the gold standard of government in the whole world—the gold standard of governance, and that is governance by the people,” Taylor said.
