Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
An extra credit assignment led a ninth-grade student from Washington County all the way to the National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C., this week. Jake Brinton, a 14-year-old student at Crimson Cliffs Middle School in Washington City, was offered extra credit by his eighth-grade English teacher, Ryan Reeves, to take part in any essay competition of his choosing. Brinton entered through the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce. His essay focused on golfers hitting golf balls into his family’s and neighbors’ yards from a plateau above their homes. He created a petition and distributed flyers. He later contacted local police, learned the plateau is public land and spoke out at a city council meeting. “They added security cameras because they didn’t realize it was an issue until I brought it up,” he said. After he submitted the essay, he was invited to compete in the St. George Civics Bee, hosted by the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce with United We Pledge, a civics education nonprofit in St. George. Brinton took first place and won again in the Utah State Civics Bee, which earned him a spot at nationals and a $1,000 prize after answering civics questions and giving a speech about his essay topic. Brinton represented Utah as one of 39 competitors in D.C. Nov. 10-11. He traveled with his parents, Andrea and Tom. He got through two of four rounds, he said. “It was worth it,” he said by phone from D.C., on Tuesday. “I’m going to do a lot more of these sorts of things. I think everybody should do the Civics Bee. It’s taught me so much about America.” To prepare, he studied the U.S. Constitution, The Federalist Papers and more. For the local competitions he had to know what 17th century document influenced the eighth amendment, for example. “I’m really proud of him. He’s worked really hard,” said Andrea Brinton. “He’s really found interest in studying the founding principles of the great early leaders of our country.” He was both excited and nervous for nationals. He had been studying three to five hours a day since August, even using AI to collect and analyze questions from past civics bees. “This was my secret weapon,” he said. “I had Chat GPT figure out some common themes.” Brinton, who maintains a 4.0 GPA and took extra classes to prove to himself that he could be good at math, also tried to complete all his schoolwork during school hours so he could devote as much time as possible to studying once he was home. To make extra time, he took P.E. online and became a teacher’s assistant in the library. Brinton said the civics bee has changed his career goals. He thought he wanted to be a molecular physicist, but the competition has led him to want to educate people. “I always liked my U.S. history class. I thought it was super interesting,” Brinton said. “I think I want to go into politics to educate people on U.S. history, government, and law.” Brinton said he finds inspiration from slain conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, whose example encouraged him to value open dialogue and constructive debate. “I’m not saying I want to be Charlie Kirk, but I’ve been watching so many hours of his videos, and I think that’s an awesome career.”
