Cyber Academy eighth grader repeats as local Civics Bee champ

RIO RANCHO – She’s only an eighth grader at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy, but Auburn Eichers is making a name for herself locally.

On the evening of April 25 in a room at the Rio Rancho Public Schools headquarters, Auburn comported herself as an adult, winning the National Civics Bee’s regional competition for the second year in a row and seemingly dazzling five adult judges with her thought-out answers to their queries.

Now, she’s $500 richer and headed to the state competition on the University of New Mexico campus June 1, along with nine other middle school contestants.

The competition, sponsored locally by the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce, was moderated by chamber CEO/President Jerry Schalow.

Twenty youngsters, out of what Schalow said were “hundreds of essays” used to qualify the field to a manageable 20 for this regional event. There were three portions — two rounds of 10 civics questions each, and then the essay portion for the top five, which turned out to be six because of a tie.

Those in the audience were encouraged to keep their own scores via an online site, and who knows which demographic knew more about the U.S. Constitution, when George Washington was elected president or what’s the longest article of the first four in the Constitution?

We may never know, but after the 20 questions and the essays were read by the judges, and those students were questioned about their topics or thoughts in them, the certificates and “checks” were doled out.

Auburn’s essay topic was “Sexual violence in schools,” which she wrote was "a problem that needs to be addressed as a society, especially within schools.”

The runner-up was Keith Lee of Albuquerque Academy, whose essay topic was “Climate change,” which he concluded with, "(Once) new measures are in place, climate purity is in our future.” Keith won $250.

Lincoln Middle School student Aliana Santistevan was third; her essay was “School safety,” which she noted “is a problem involving nearly all members of every school community,” and she won $125.

Finishing fourth was Sophya Garcia, who attends eCADEMY on Albuquerque’s West Side; her topic was “Gun safety.”

Nicholas Medina, a 2023 Civics Bee participant who attends Explore Academy, was fifth; his essay topic was “Homelessness.”

Esha Shivshankar of Mountain View Middle School, also a 2023 competitor, was sixth; her essay topic was “Bright future.”

“Those are tough topics you guys chose,” Schalow said, “Topics we all struggle with today.”

Rounding out the top 10 for the state competition were seventh- through 10th-place finishers (in no order) Brooklyn Vinta and Hannah McHenry, both of the Rio Grande Academy of Fine Arts in Albuquerque; Pearl Sandoval of Jefferson Middle School in Albuquerque, and Lance Alten of Three Crosses Christian School in Las Cruces.

“Stay focused; keep working,” Schalow encouraged the field, noting this year’s eighth graders will age out of the middle school event, and Eichers won't be able to three-peat.