Joseph Drexler, 14, has advice for anyone feeling frustrated or overwhelmed lately by politics, the government and their civic duty.
Seek out multiple news sources to learn what’s happening in your city, state and country and hear it from different perspectives. Get involved in your local community by volunteering or making your voice heard at public forums. Push through those negative feelings to find what difference you can make.
“Our government is a great government,” Joseph said. “Sometimes I think people forget that. We look at only the bad things about it. There’s a lot of good things. The more educated you are about your own government, the better you’re going to understand how the systems work.”
The Buena Vista High School freshman is taking that can-do attitude to Washington, D.C., where he will represent Colorado in the 2024 National Civics Bee on Tuesday.
The bee, a fledgling event in its second year, is an annual competition encouraging youth in sixth, seventh and eighth grades to engage in civics and contribute to their communities.
A $4.5 million grant from the Daniels Fund allowed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to scale up state competitions across the country, coinciding with the upcoming 250th birthday of the United States.
Students in the National Civics Bee show off their knowledge of American history and democracy, and practice respectful debates and conversations while competing for prizes.
Joseph participated in the competition’s first year after seeing it advertised on a flier at school. History and government have always piqued Joseph’s interest, so he figured he’d give it a shot and ended up coming in second at the state competition.
The competition starts with an essay students write proposing ideas to improve their communities.
This year, Joseph’s essay focused on boosting student enthusiasm in school. He argued that by increasing civics education and making it more hands-on — like showing students how to engage with local elected officials — students would be more interested in learning and benefitting their neighborhood.
“Civics is about teaching people how to use their government to make a difference,” Joseph said. “One of the major problems students have in school is they feel like what they’re learning isn’t doing anything for them. Civics helps teach you that. However, I also feel like we need to make it more interesting.”
For the national competition, Joseph will have to answer a series of questions about history and democracy questions before he gets the opportunity to read his essay in front of the crowd for the chance to win.
Public speaking doesn’t rattle Joseph. who said he just remembers that everyone there is interested in the topic at hand and he’s as prepared as he can be.
It helps that Joseph had the help of a professional.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser took it upon himself to help coach Joseph and refine his speech.
Weiser’s longstanding relationship with the Daniels Fund prompted him to get involved with the Colorado Civics Bee, where he met Joseph and agreed to help him on his quest to win the national event.
“I am a fan of anyone willing to make the time to put together an argument about our society, our democratic republic,” Weiser said. “It’s meaningful to me because we need more empathy and kindness and more young people like Joseph concerned about building a community where people can listen to one another.”
Weiser read the teen’s speech about student enthusiasm and helped him narrow the focus and fine-tune his arguments.
“He had a few arguments, and one of them was much stronger than the other, so I told him to stick with your really strong argument and help develop it because it’s a better technique to build your strong argument,” Weiser said.
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Joseph dedicates about two hours a day to studying American history and government through hundreds of notecards he’s created to memorize and quiz himself.
He’s off to a better start than many Americans.
A 2024 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found more than 70% of Americans failed a civic literacy quiz with questions about the three branches of government and the number of Supreme Court justices. Half of those surveyed could correctly name the branch of government where bills become laws.
With a better civics education, Joseph said, both students and the country could improve.
“We have a connection crisis in our society right now,” Weiser said. “People are more disconnected and more lonely. There is not enough listening, not enough collaborative problem-solving. And for someone like Joseph to develop these skills, that promises huge dividends over the course of Joseph’s life. When people have less faith in government and institutions, less connection to one another, this is the antidote to some of the challenges that ail us.”
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