3rd Annual Buena Vista Civics Bee
National Civics Bee®
Calling all middle school students! Share your ideas and flex your civics knowledge in the National Civics Bee®.
The Civics Bee has become a fun way for our community to celebrate civic dialogue and empower youth voices to speak out about issues they care about. It is also a way for adults to practice our listening skills and be open to ideas and conversation about how to make Buena Vista a better place for all. We are honored to create space for your students as they learn to become engaged and active members of our community.
2025 Study Guide
Meet the 2025 Finalists!
Read Their Essays Here
River Safety Education Campaign – Emma-Kate Callaway
When you go down to the river, have you ever seen an individual in the water without safety gear? Whether you’re on a raft or just swimming, I think it is really important that you have necessary river gear such as a life vest, helmet, and wetsuit. What can we do to educate tourists about safety on the river?
Have you ever thought it would be fun to tube down the river? You don’t really need a life jacket, do you? This is what some visitors think when they come to the Buena Vista Arkansas River. I spend time at the Staircase Wave in the summer, and I have seen this happen. People get in the water without a life jacket, float down a ways, and usually pretty soon they are in a tough situation. The Arkansas River is deep, fast flowing, has a lot of strainers, and sometimes has high CFS.
CFS is the amount of water flowing down the river per second. This can be dangerous when it is really high. Another hazard is strainers, which are piles of sticks, branches, and sometimes even trees that get stuck in the fast moving currents and build up. Like a pasta strainer, it lets water through but not other objects, including people. That’s why it is always good to wear a life jacket so the current doesn’t pull you under. According to the Chaffee County Times, 2023 was one of the deadliest years on record on the Arkansas River (Chaffee County Times).
As a thirteen year old, I believe that everyone can make a difference and I will try to do all I can.
I plan to ask the Board of Trustees to give permission to put up signage along the river trail. I think signage would be helpful, because if they were colorful and attractive, then people would be more drawn to them and hopefully learn more about river safety.
Another solution I thought of was to ask the AHRA (Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area) to give permission to provide more helmets and life vests down there. The life vests look old and probably don’t work as well. It is always a good idea to have a fairly new life vest, because if you don’t, you never know whether it will keep you afloat. Same with a helmet. They can degrade over time. If they do, it is not as likely that they will withstand the hard objects you may hit your head on. I want to provide this for anyone who needs them, especially the people who can’t afford one. “Every occupant of an inner tube, air mattress and similar device must wear an U.S. Coast Guard approved PFD,” AHRA encourages everyone to follow this rule.
Founding principles of our government are key for starting to address a community need. A founding principle for this problem would be Inalienable Rights. It means that everyone has natural access to things such as life, liberty, and property.
In this situation, everyone has the right to be on or in the property of the river, and it cannot be taken away from them. So even if they are making unsafe choices in the river, nobody can kick them out.
A Civic Virtue goes hand in hand with a founding principle. It is basically a habit to ensure that we are acting in what’s best for the community. A Civic Virtue that I think fits this problem is responsibility. When people go down to the river, they are responsible for themselves and the river. They need to notice if they are safe or not, and they need to wonder if they are using this resource correctly or otherwise. They have the power to decide whether they want to have fun that will keep them safe, or not. Our river can be fun, but only if you are safe.
Water Conservation, Xeriscape & Gray-water – Zach Leon
Showering, maintaining a lawn, flushing a toilet, and doing a load of laundry all use our precious and limited water here in Colorado. Our state needs our help because we are one of the top ten driest states in the country. Drying out our aquifers could cause permanent damage to our environment. This means that we need to take charge now.
We can limit and reduce the use of water, reuse grey water, and get better at recycling water. Colorado has already identified this problem and has tried to fix it by limiting the frequency and volume of water that is used. Although this is a great start, there is much more we can do.
For example, we can standardize water-saving shower heads (that reduce water pressure to use less volume) and we can help teach the community about how to use their grey water more efficiently.
Grey water is water that has already been used for certain tasks like showering and laundry, and is usually considered dirty. But this water can be reused to water lawns and plants to save fresh water.
Also, instead of having a traditional lawn, we can encourage xeriscaping, a landscaping style that requires little to no irrigation at all and mainly focuses on rocks, gravel, and low maintenance plants.
On sidewalks in town, we can install tiles that lead rain water through planned drains to collect water for later use, as they do in Venice, instead of the drains on the road that direct the water to a local river. We can also promote the creation of community pools instead of individual household pools. The government should enforce the protection of our water by stopping companies from polluting the Arkansas River and keeping other companies, like Nestle, from bottling our water and shipping it away for profit.
I would work with the Town of Buena Vista Board of Trustees. I would ask the Town Water Committee to advise the board about how important water conservation is for our community. I would ask non-profits like the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District to continue educating residents and town officials about conserving our water. Our schools can also educate students about the importance of protecting our water supply.
My solutions include strategies for conserving water. If we work together, our community might not have to worry about how dry it is because many more people would be using their water more responsibly.
The Founding Principle of Consent of the Governed/Popular Sovereignty means that the power comes from the people. This means that as the people, we need to take actions for ideas we have to make the community better. As the First Amendment states, we have the right to free speech and expression. This means we should use that privilege to educate the people and possibly petition the government for change if necessary.
The Civic Virtue of Courage means taking practical action against fear and danger in the community and doing what is right; we need to make plans to protect ourselves from the threat of over-using our water. These principles, virtues and amendments all give us the right to protect our water and stand up as citizens to help our community.
Helping Kids, Safety, and Substance Abuse – Emily Gertson
Hi my name is Emily. Today I’m going to be talking about vaping and doing drugs at school.
Did you know that in Salida, students were not allowed to go to the bathroom because they were prone to drug use and vaping in that area? For their own safety they weren’t even allowed to go to the bathroom because of how common it was. The other part of this issue was that if one person in a really popular friend group was vaping every time they went to the bathroom, they would peer pressure other people in their friend group to do it with them.
This is a very sad topic that needs to be addressed. Currently there are about 23% of middle and high school students that vape and approximately 136 % of students aged twelve and up that do drugs in Colorado.
The most common drug that is used by kids is marijuana or cannabis. There is about 500 milliliters of cannabis in a vape. Vaping is less harmful than smoking but is still definitely not safe. When you vape it causes you to crave smoke and suffer withdrawals if you ignore the craving. Nicotine is a toxic substance. It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack.
Sometimes teenagers vape because they think it is not harmful like smoking is, but vaping is still dangerous even if it’s less dangerous than smoking. When you have an addiction it’s hard to stop but it is always possible.
When I think of having an addiction to vaping or drugs I always look to my mom because she used to have an addiction herself but she was able to quit. Me and my mom want to work together to help others and help stop addiction.
One of my ideas would be to go and talk to the kids at BV and Salida schools. Since teenagers are always on Instagram and Tik-Tok, I think it would be a good idea to post a short video or reel about how drugs and vaping are dangerous and illegal for kids under the age of twenty-one. Another video would be about the consequences if you were to get caught vaping or doing drugs underaged. I would work with the police so that I could have an accurate understanding of the penalties and sentences of getting caught for the video. I could work with FYI, which is an organization that helps kids in unsafe homes, and talk to them about how they have experienced kids doing drugs and vaping under the age twenty-one. With the information that I gather from FYI, I would go to BV and Salida high schools to talk to them about how dangerous it is and also how common it is to do drugs and vape.
My solution for this problem includes the founding principle of the rule of law. There should be a consequence for vaping and doing drugs underaged, and while this may be the case in some places, it should be enforced everywhere.
My civics virtue is integrity, as children who may be struggling with addiction often lack it. Another way to demonstrate integrity is when your teacher asks you if you have a vape or drugs in your pocket, and you answer honestly. When I think about the rule of law, I envision a society where everybody adheres to the law. While it may be challenging to obtain a vape from a store while under twenty-one, if teens do manage to get their hands on one, I believe there should be a punishment. When everybody obeys the laws, there is a greater chance that fewer people engage in such activities, because everybody has to face the consequences of their actions. Having integrity can be challenging, as it often involves the risk of being caught. However, demonstrating integrity showcases personality growth and maturity, which is a hard thing for most adults to possess. And is why it is a part of our portrait of a graduate.
In conclusion, I believe that there should be consequences for drug and vaping use under the age of twenty-one, and that schools should explore alternative methods to prevent these activities beyond restricting access to the bathroom. For those in need, the FYI Organization provides valuable support to children in Chaffee County, including assistance from their homes, parents, and household items. Integrity is a very crucial trait to process as an adult.
Housing Ownership, Cap, and Affordability – Caleb Moen
Affordable housing is a significant problem all over the U.S.A. Colorado is a pretty big one. Most people work very hard just to have a house but they still need an affordable mortgage. Now most of the jobs in Chaffee County don’t pay enough to be able to pay the monthly gas, food, and taxes. This usually results in them going bankrupt or in heavy debt.
Affordable housing is a big problem specifically in Chaffee County. About 56 people moved here to Buena Vista each year from the year 2022 to 2025. I think there should be a housing cap limit on how many houses and how much land a single person or company can own and let there be more houses for businesses to house their employees. This housing cap would prevent big companies from buying up lots of land and homes so other people can buy housing and land to live on.
Another problem with housing is when new homeowners dig wells or connect to city water, it takes from water in the aquifers and the Arkansas River. This would affect all the water activities on the Arkansas River, like surfing and rafting.
This cap would also put a cap on how many houses are allowed to be built in Buena Vista so that the aquifers will last longer and the town. I think this housing cap would make life easier for people to have families and dreams while the water and house pricing stays affordable.
I plan to work with the director and staff of the Buena Vista Pregnancy Center and the staff of Habitat for Humanity to understand all the potential problems with the housing situations before we write up the cap on housing. I would send this housing cap to the Colorado state government to get it approved by all the government branches and put it into action.
Habitat for Humanity works to provide housing to lots of people on a daily basis who need a house, and in return the people pay their mortgage on a monthly basis. This would allow both businesses to also grab some attention for donations or customers to help with growing their business [if they don’t want it they don’t have to have it]. All the rest of the information that I gather from the housing cap would go to other organizations who are dealing with this same housing problem in other states or towns all over the U.S.A. this would help give them all of our pointers and details on what the bigger problems are and what the smaller problems in the community, these are all to improve their housing cap regulations specifically for their problem.
My Founding Principle would be categorized under separation of powers. The idea/definition of the separation of powers is that each division of government exercises distinct powers to carry out its functions and to prevent the accumulation of power to individuals who want power for themselves.
This means the housing cap would need to be approved by the state government in order to implement the housing cap anywhere in Colorado. I would work with the legislative law branch to get the housing cap approved then the all other Government branches of the Colorado government would also need to approve this housing cap before anything can happen. Once the housing cap is approved, this would put the housing cap into action all over the state of Colorado.
The civic virtue that I would choose, would be responsibility. I choose this because lots of my friends have moved out of state because the housing price is too high so I feel like this is my responsibility to take matters into my own hands. I want this for other people so they are able to have big dreams, family, and most important of all a life to enjoy and love.
In conclusion this subject kind of struck me when I started to hear that most people do not have enough money for a family, dream or just a life. So I took this personally and now I’m going to try to make a housing cap.
Affordable & Safe Childcare, Shared Space – Emma Allen
All over the world there are parents who work and who need a reliable childcare option while they’re working during the day. More parents in Buena Vista than you think struggle to find an affordable and safe place to send their children for the day. Many people remain on wait lists for years before they can get their children into a preschool.
Did you know there are only three main preschools in Buena Vista? This limits the amount of children that can be cared for during the work day. If you are a parent or caretaker and need to work but also need a safe place to send your child and there are no empty spots in your local preschools, what are you going to do?
While talking to the directors of the local Busy Bees, Montessori, and The Grove preschools, I found out that all of them combined have only 116 spots total each year. If we had an additional child care center in Buena Vista we could have more space and room for those kids whose parents can’t afford a babysitter or nanny for their child each day. We could operate at a low cost and be open five days a week from 9-5. The standard teacher to toddler ratio is one to ten. This option would be available to all parents until we meet the max of students. If we had six teachers/volunteer teachers we would have additional capacity for a max of sixty students, ranging from 2 ½ to 6 years old.
We could partner with the Boys and Girls Club to offer a safe space for these children to go to that includes fun crafts, books, and nap time. Plans are underway to build a new 22,000 square foot building for the Boy and Girls Club in BV. The Boys and Girls Club operates after school hours, so if we partnered with them and their space we could provide childcare during the day and be done in time for them to continue with their regular programming. This would also cut the costs, because a multi purpose building gives an opportunity to be more affordable.
The Boys and Girls Club could expand their outreach to more than just elementary kids but also to toddlers and preschoolers. With this we could have additional child care in Buena Vista, a safe place to go during the work day, and a way to connect through our community.
However, having this child care center would not be easy to create or maintain. We could apply for some grants/funds, such as the USA Government Grants for childcare, which helps with small business funding and child care assistance. We could have this option available for all of our parents. There is also an option provided by the Colorado Universal Child Care Program that gives all children in Colorado the option to register for up to fifteen hours of free, high-quality preschool or child care in their year before kindergarten through Colorado’s Universal Pr-K Program.
My solution involves Founding Principles and Civic Virtues. For instance childcare and early parenting relates to equality, a common Founding Principle. The definition of equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. And this principle states that all individuals have the same claim as human beings to natural rights and treatments under the law.
Humans are all equal and they should all have the chance to provide for their family and have a safe and affordable place for their children to go. Not just the wealthy should be able to send their child to daycare.
One civic virtue that is relevant to childcare and early parenting is responsibility, which is defined as acting on good judgment about what is right or wrong even when it is not popular. Individuals have the responsibility to take care of themselves, their families, and their fellow community members. Like the definition states, individuals must take responsibility for themselves and their families. Being responsible for your child includes finding a childcare and educational center for children to go to in their early years if the parents can’t stay home and be with their child.
Overall, I believe that childcare should have an option for everyone. I also believe it’s important to connect with others and give back to our community. Partnering with the Boys and Girls Club could help with this project and continue to have a safe place for these children to go.
Thank you.
Livestock, 4H and Wolves in Colorado – Addilyn Miller
Many people across Colorado believe it is important to bring grey wolves back to their native lands. Let’s not forget about how they help reduce the population of pesky rodents such as mice, beavers and gophers as well as deer and elk. However, a wolf’s powers to disrupt the ecosystem far outweigh where their home is or what they do for us (which is so little).
Grey wolves were reintroduced into Colorado around the time of December 2023. Ever since, the State of Colorado, and even Buena Vista, has had a problem with dealing with the reintroduction. For example, farmers and ranchers have been dealing with the high demands of lost livestock.
According to https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-and-livestock-8-010/ , around 2,800 heads of cattle and about 400 heads of sheep have all died due to Wolves each year. In general a lot of people would say that it’s their way of getting a good source of food and a stable supply of it. However, for farmers in our community and people who raise livestock for 4-H, like myself, it could play a role in our lives because we have to buy more equipment to ensure the safety of our animals. Let alone, if one of our animals does in fact get killed by a wolf then there are unnecessary expenses we incur.
I am motivated to state my opinion on why I think the wolves are causing more harm than good and why they should go back to Wyoming where they already had a life with their pack and made a new home; so that our community can raise livestock with no harm done.
I can work with the Chaffee County Commissioners in making a safer plan for our local ranchers. Meaning, we could set up fundraisers to earn money to help with the expenses of equipment for the safety of the animals.
I can reach out to our local newspaper and spread awareness and my opinion on wolves in Colorado. The Colorado Sheep Industry is an organization in which they help sheep. They are also on the side where they don’t want wolves in Colorado either. I could work with them to start a website and in that website we could have articles about what it’s like to have wolves on your ranches. There could be a place where you could write and tell your own story and what it’s been like to have wolves kill your livestock. This could be a great way of spreading the word and giving other people’s point of view.
This solution shows Founding Principles because I am trying to do what is best for the animals and people of our community. Meaning I want to do my part in trying my best to improve the safety of our livestock. I am trying to take responsibility and work with the Chaffee County Commissioners to achieve a better living environment for all.
I also respect the other side’s opinion in which they believe this is what is best for the wolves. In some cases it might be, but in others they probably have just as good of a home back where they are from. For equality purposes, right now ranchers don’t have much warning if a wolf is approaching their land or not. It isn’t that fair for all of those animals and ranchers to have more of a responsibility to keep them alive. In conclusion, I believe that if I try my hardest to work with the county and other organizations I can make livestock a little bit safer then they are now from wolves.
Kid Friendly Indoor Activities: Bowling, Arcade, Job Creation – Jesse Arnold
I think a big problem in Buena Vista is the kids here don’t have much to do like inside activities wise. I think a way to solve this problem would be to build an arcade/bowling alley where kids could come hang out on a summer day if it’s really hot or they want something to do.
It would also help with things to do for families that could go with their kids. To hang out on the daily and it would also attract more tourists to it and make our town more money and things to do with their family.
I think not having a bowling alley is a problem because there is one in Salida and that gives them more money and not us plus we have to drive to Salida to get there and nobody wants to drive that far if we can just get one here in BV. I think it’s mainly just a big problem because people don’t have anything to do like me and all my friends and any more people and we don’t have really any inside activities and that would be a good fix to add some arcades but also bowling for the whole family.
Some people I would try to contact to work with that will work out well also is someone that would want to start a business that will make money over time. Because I know that an arcade here would attract people not once but people will also keep coming and that will make this person money. I would also maybe try to talk to real estate agents to see where the best property for this building would be so we could place it in a spot that would attract people and a spot that also has enough room for people to park and is fast to get to if kids would like to ride bikes to the arcade.
The next person I would talk to is people around town to see if they want an arcade in this town and see if these people would like to donate to make one or if they think building an arcade/bowling alley would be a con for BV. And I would see if I could also talk to town officials to see if they think this would work out and find out if the business would get revenue. And there might be just people who wanna talk to me about and maybe donate to this idea.
I think my idea represents Civic virtue. I think it represents this because it’s doing something good for the whole community to actually do and it’s not just for one age group or specific person it’s something literally everyone can do if they want to. I overall think people would love this idea just to have some fun.
I think my solution represents a Founding Principle because it kind of shows equality and how all people have the right to do the arcade and the bowling alley and it’s a community thing.
I also think this shows freedom of assembly because it’s a group of family friends, co-workers etc. They all come to get together and that’s what it’s meant for.
In conclusion if we make and arcade and a bowling alley BV will have more activities, will make more money and attract more people it will also make it easier to get to an indoor activity such as an arcade because the next closest one is in Salida it will also give some job opportunities for kids to work at because its a kid friendly workplace and will be an all year round activity unlike mountain biking and a lot of outdoor thing you can do this in all 4 seasons.
Parking Lot Safety – Kate Munchoff
Have you ever just needed a snack or one more ingredient for your soup and been slowed down by a traffic jam? Our local City market is where everyone goes because it’s one of the only grocery stores in Buena Vista.
If you’ve ever been to our local City Market you know that the parking lot is often very full, difficult to safely maneuver around and at times challenging to exit. As a person who shops at City Market I can confirm that this is very inconvenient and at times dangerous.
One day after shopping at City Market my family and I were exiting the store with our groceries and a car raced by the front of the store and almost hit us. It made me concerned for families with young children who could run off from their parents, out the front door, and be hit by a car. So, to contribute, I would like to present a few ideas for City Market and the town of Buena Vista to consider. I think it could be helpful to expand the parking lot by taking out the fence that is on the south side of the City Market. This could create an opportunity for reserved parking spaces for employees and add more parking for the customers. We could also designate a crosswalk to make it safer and easier for people in and out of the store and to access their cars. Additional handicap parking spaces could be added near the front of the store so that those who have difficulty walking long distances can easily access City Market.
It would be important to first approach City Market to talk about the customers’ experience of navigating the parking lot and walking in and out of the store, especially during busy times. It would be important to determine their knowledge of this situation, discuss these concerns, and explore solutions that have been considered or proposed in the past.
For a few years I have heard rumors that City Market has purchased land and made plans to move and expand their store. This would be important information to understand before suggesting a major investment in modifying their parking lot. If their plan is to stay at their current location, it would be important to address these safety concerns. We also may need to involve the bank that is on the south side of City Market.
We would need to inquire about their interest in selling their land and then negotiate a purchase price for their land. We would also approach Buena Vista Town Council about traffic control options that could improve safety while entering and exiting the store parking lot. Working through these solutions would take a lot of time and energy but if the result was a safer, less stressful shopping experience, it would be worth it.
It is out of my concern for the safety of the shoppers of City Market and my fellow citizens that I felt motivated to work on this issue.
Responsibility is defined as “liable to be called on to answer”. I feel a sense of responsibility to bring my experience as a shopper, and my concerns for the safety of all shoppers to the attention of the owners of City Market and the Town of Buena Vista. I would like to help work toward a solution that produces a safer environment for purchasing groceries. I feel City Market should be motivated by their responsibility to provide a safe and pleasant experience for the shoppers of their store. The town of Buena Vista should feel a sense of responsibility to limit the potential for car crashes when vehicles are entering and exiting one of the busiest businesses on Highway 24. I am interested in being involved in this process that will benefit my community and bring some of the ideas that I have for potential solutions to the table. I would hate to hear about a young kid unknowingly running out of the grocery store and getting hit by a car, so I hope that City Market feels motivated to listen to my concerns even though this is their private property and the decision is ultimately theirs.
In conclusion, Buena Vista is rapidly changing and growing and its grocery store should grow with it. I would be so excited to have even been the smallest part of helping our community create a safer, more pleasant environment for us all.
Helping Teens Join the Local Workforce – Jordan DeWalt
Businesses are closing early or shutting down completely, with 191,000 jobs available in the state of Colorado alone (US Chamber of Commerce). A large percent of Buena Vista’s economy is reliant on tourism, but it becomes hard for businesses to meet the high demand when there is a shortage of available workers. One solution to this issue is making jobs more appealing to younger generations, specifically those between the ages of fourteen and twenty.
There are other plausible solutions but in including younger generations in the workforce we are expanding the workforce in both the present and future. One possible way to carry out this solution includes businesses offering more flexible work schedules so high school students can both attend school and have jobs. Another idea would be for local businesses to work more closely with the high school’s internship program. Additionally, we could offer incentives that are more appealing to younger generations such as hot springs punch passes. These are just a few ideas of how we could ramp up younger generations’ involvement in the workforce. Getting more students involved in the workforce is beneficial to businesses because they would have enough employees to be working at their full capacity. At the same time it would also be beneficial to the students because they would get valuable training and experience.
Adolescents are often not given the chance to prove themselves capable in the workforce, but there is only one way to gain experience, so we need to change that perspective and bring younger generations into the workforce.
In order to cause this change I would talk to the school board, our local Chamber of Commerce, and local businesses. I would talk to the school board to see how we could get more students and businesses involved in the internship program. Working with the school board would allow me to strategize about other possible ways we could get students involved in the workforce. I would talk to the Chamber of Commerce about what they have been doing, how we could aid them, and what specific businesses or people could use. I would talk to businesses about ways they could create and put flexible schedules into practice. In working with them, I would also discuss and brainstorm different ideas of possible incentives they could offer their younger employees. Talking to students and teenagers themselves as well would be an invaluable way to gain an unique perspective on how we could get more students involved in the workforce. The more ideas, opinions, and help we get on creating and implementing a solution the better and more effective it will be.
The problem of a lack of an adequate workforce involves the civic virtues and founding principles of respect, humility, equality, and responsibility. It involves respect because it requires people to respect each other where they are at, and what they need and have yet to learn. People must be willing to respect one another and their ideas if we are ever going to solve this problem, much less any other problem. This problem requires responsibility because people need to take charge and be the change they want, even if it does not happen quickly or easily. They need to take charge of what they are passionate about and do something.
We do not only need to take charge, but we need to do it right. We need to treat each other fairly and equally despite their age, lack of experience, or anything. Nothing should stop us from being respectful and kind to one another and their views. We must treat one another fairly and be willing to take responsibility and be willing to be the change. We need to be the change we want to see no matter our age, position or whatever may be holding us back and solving the lack of an adequate workforce is no exception.
Human-Wildlife Interactions, Safety and Deer – Benjamin Drexler
In my town deer are as plentiful as mosquitos. My grandparents from out of town love this but let me tell you the real story. Deer are the most dangerous animal in the U.S., responsible for 440 deaths and 59,000 injuries every year.
Buena Vista’s deer population is estimated to number between 200-250, and therein lies the problem: it’s just too many. This topic is relevant to all of Colorado as well because I found that Colorado averages nearly 4,000 reported wildlife versus vehicle crashes annually, resulting in $80 million dollars in damages. This is not just a problem on highways, but it is also a problem all over lots of towns everywhere.
In Colorado Springs the Recreation Department said they picked up a deer everyday. Keven Madler, Colorado Parks and Wildlife District Wildlife Manager, told me that deer often get tangled in our Christmas lights, kill our pets and eat our bushes, causing property damage.
My solution to this problem is to hire a hunter to tranquilize the deer and process the deer outside of town. We could then use the meat for local homeless people and other good causes in town. This would not only save lives but it would also save us lots of money by stopping lots of crashes. I would make sure that the hunters would be equipped with the right equipment to do the job.
My other suggested solution is to have one day a year of open hunting in Buena Vista. This solution worked for Denver five years ago when they eliminated two thousand ducks!
To accomplish this, I would work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to help legalize the one day of hunting and help find and supervise the town hunter/tranquilizer. Another foundation I could work with is the Chaffee County Times because they could help to spread the word about the annual hunting day and our new deer hunter/tranquilizer. They could also inform the hunters that they are not allowed to go onto private property. Another organization I could work with would be the Buena Vista Recreation Department because they could keep the hunting day safe by supervising the hunters. I would also have to work with our mayor, Libby Fay and the Board of Trustees to help legalize hunting within the town limits.
This issue has some problems like how many people love the deer in our town and have no idea the problems that deer create. This is a problem of misunderstanding and lack of information. That is why we should work with these organizations to get the word out. Kevin Madler, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Manager would be a great person to bridge the gap between the two sides of the augment and convey the other side’s ideas.
My topic calls upon the Civic Virtues of Respect and Responsibility. It is our responsibility to protect our town and the people in it. The Civic Virtue responsibility also ties into my topic because whenever we drive deer are a constant threat to you and your family, so it is your responsibility to take care of yourself and your family by using my solutions to get rid of the deer. We should respect our family and town enough to protect them from dangerous animals like deer.
Further, we also need to respect the deer because letting them die on the road instead of giving them a less painful death is ultimately not respectful.
Another thing this problem is related to is the Founding Principle of the right to acquire, possess and protect property. The right to “protect property” can not only refer to protecting it from people but also from animals like deer. So I think we as a town have the right to get rid of the deer in our town and to protect ourselves and our families from the deer.
In conclusion, I think deer are very dangerous and unhelpful in our town so we should hire a hunter/tranquilizer and make a day that hunters can hunt deer within the town limits. With your help we can rid our town of the dangerous animals in the United States.
Personal & Legal Consequences of Drugs – Dakota Depew
One difficult problem in our community that I would like to address is how adolescents are using drugs illegally in schools.
According to the Michael House Treatment Center, the most common drug used in schools is marijuana, which is used in vapes and cigarettes. I am going to give you two major ideas on how to raise awareness about the risks of using drugs at an early age.
My first idea is to create a poster that we can hang in bathroom stalls, which is where most drug use occurs in schools (according to personal testimonies). It could tell of the permanent side effects and repercussions such as asthma, lung scarring, cancer, organ damage, and addiction.
My second idea is to create a class that would be taught by adolescents and adults who are in recovery from addiction. This class would be geared towards middle schoolers and high schoolers. The people in recovery leading the class would get the opportunity to share their stories and help advise the students. The leaders would explain the risks of getting caught doing drugs and the permanent negative health effects of them. The reason for the classes is that the only way we can prevent drugs from being used in school is if the students are motivated to stop.
Informing and raising awareness about drugs is an easy way to motivate them to stop.
To make my visions possible, I would work with a variety of different organizations and individuals. For example, I would work with the student government at schools to help me find the right adolescents and adults to lead the classes. Of course, I would have to get permission from the principal and school board to start the classes and hang the posters in the bathrooms. I would also ask the school’s dean of discipline and the principal’s advice and opinion on the proper school reporting chain for what to do if students catch other students doing drugs illegally. We could add the reporting chain onto the posters to spread the word faster.
This would also discourage drug users from doing it for fear of getting caught. I could make the initial draft of the poster and then work with marketing and advertising specialists to finalize it. I would work with drug addiction counselors and behavioral health counselors and obtain their contact information to put on the posters for students who want help to stop their addiction but don’t know how. Another possible organization that I could work with is the police.
I would gather information such as what constitutes an adolescent drug crime, how to properly report a crime to the police, and the consequences of that crime. It would be helpful to add these concepts to the poster and classes as a deterrent to students.
The founding principal that I think integrates into my solutions the most is the rule of law, because underage drug use is against the law. My whole proposal is about abiding by and enforcing the same laws that everyone must obey no matter your power.
There are two civic virtues that I believe go hand in hand with my topic, the first being integrity. The person doing the illegal drugs violates their integrity as they know what they are doing is wrong. If it weren’t, they would do it in the open, not concealed in a bathroom where no one can see.
By being an American citizen you are required to obey the laws, and there is a law that in Colorado you can not buy, possess, or use retail marijuana if you’re under the age of twenty-one.
The second civic virtue is responsibility. You can not help your friends get support from a trusted counselor if you don’t turn them in. Even if it is an unpopular thing to do, demonstrating this kind of civic responsibility for fellow classmates will help them and protect them in the long run.
You don’t have to turn them in to the police, you could tell their trusted guardian/adult, so that they could work it out privately first, without making it a public issue and giving them a permanent criminal record. But if they don’t have a person like that in their lives, the school reporting chain is always a safe option.
In conclusion, adolescents using drugs illegally is a very large problem everywhere, but if we work at it and take action, we can eliminate that problem.
2025 Live Civics Bee Competition
Buena Vista, Colorado
Multiple Choice Civics Bee Competition.
Top 5 Finalists – Essay Judging Competition, Live Q&A with the Judges.
Speeches. Light snacks, and drinks provided.
Day
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Location
American Legion
338 North Railroad St., Buena Vista Co 81211
Time
2:00-4:00pm Live Civics Bee Competition
4:00-4:30pm Ice Cream Social at Swift River Ice Cream & Gifts
FEE
This event is free and open to the public.
ABOUT THE BEE
The Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host a nonpartisan civics competition that encourages young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. Participating 6th, 7th and 8th graders will flex their civics knowledge for a chance to win recognition and cash prizes. Finalists will be invited to Washington, DC to compete in the National Civics Bee® national championship in Fall 2025.
WHY CIVICS?
The Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce is participating in the National Civics Bee® because we believe that informed and active citizens make for a strong country, a strong economy, and a strong workforce, and that our continued prosperity depends on the strength of all three. Through the Bee, we are promoting greater civic knowledge in Colorado and celebrating our civic pride.
HOW TO ENTER
Any 6th, 7th, or 8th grade student residing in Colorado with an idea about using civics to improve their community may submit their essay to participate in one local competition in their state. All essays must be submitted by Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Visit www.nationalcivicsbee.org for the latest news on the application portal, entry deadlines, and resources. Students should review the Contest Rules and Essay Guide below and then apply using the following link:
LIVE EVENT INFO
Coming soon! The live competition will be held in Buena Vista in the Spring of 2025. Event location, date and time will be released in early 2025.
The live competition starts with civics knowledge multiple choice questions. The Top 5 winners of the multiple choice competition then present their essay topics to a live audience followed by Q&A with the judges.
The Top 3 winners are invited to compete in the State Competition!
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Are you interested in showcasing your company’s commitment to developing active and engaged citizens? For information about available corporate sponsorships, please contact us.
2024 recap
2024 Local Winners!
Buena Vista Competition Top 3
Andee Quilico, Joseph Drexler, Simon Allen. (Photo Credit: Ken Scar)
2024 State Champion!
Joseph Drexler from Buena Vista’s DPCA
2024 National Championship in Washington, DC!
Colorado State Champion, Joseph Drexler
PRESENTED BY…
2025 SPONSORS
Sue Cobb, Peggy Streicher, Doyle Nyberg, Karen Gerrity, Gillian Connolly, Wendy Hall, Alex Lunsford, Tracy Weed, Gregg & Heike Grant, Feather Bokker, Marjie Gray, and anonymous donors.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact us.
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