Romig Middle School 8th grader Emily Brubaker won the first ever National Civics Bee at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12.
Scores for each round of the bee were weighted and even during the final round, contestants were unaware of who was in the lead until the winner was announced.
“They announced second place, and I was thinking, I don’t even know if I have a chance,” Brubaker said. “Then they brought out the CEO of the Daniels Fund and she announced me as the winner. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so crazy.’”
For Brubaker, it all started when a family friend encouraged her to apply for the contest. Her parents put together flashcards to test her civic knowledge. After winning the state civics bee in June she took a break from studying over the summer, but got back to work once school started in August.
“Sometimes when I was coming home after school, my mom would be like, ‘Emily time to study for civics,’ and I’d like, internally groan, and I’d be like, ‘Ugh, civics,’” she said. “But after winning, I’d say I’m definitely grateful that my mom pushed me to study more, because it really paid off.”
Brubaker was born with a rare condition that led her to become civically involved when she was 6 years old. She has a congenital anomaly called hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, which affects her hair, teeth and skin.
“That condition, for me, means that I’m missing a lot of baby and adult teeth,” she said. “In just a couple years or a few years, I’m going to have to get a lot of dental work done, which insurance currently won’t pay for.”
She has taken several trips to Washington, D.C., with her family to share her story with members of Congress and encourage them to pass the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, which passed the U.S. House in 2022. If made law, ELSA would close a loophole that exempts insurance companies from paying for dental procedures caused by congenital anomalies.
Emily’s father Brian said the dental work is likely to cost their family over $100,000.
“It’s kind of a cruel irony, right? I mean, no kid should have to worry about having to be brave and go talk to their member of Congress for something they need,” he said. “But because Emily had to do it, she was well, well, prepared to enter and win this bee.”
Brubaker’s win at the state bee earned her a spot in the inaugural national contest, which drew 27 contestants from across the country who tested their knowledge of citizens’ rights and duties against other middle school students.
“Once I started studying and applying for the civics bee, I realized that I’ve been doing civics my whole life by advocating for this condition, and I just hadn’t realized it,” she said. “It’s actually super easy to be involved in civics and not know about it, because basically, just by existing in this country, you’re performing civic duties and responsibilities, whether it’s advocating on Capitol Hill for a bill or whether it’s like going and voting.”
For winning the National Civics Bee, Brubaker was awarded a $100,000 scholarship to the school of her choice. She said she wants to study at MIT for a career as an engineer or spacecraft programmer for NASA.
When she got back to Alaska, Brubaker tried to share some of the credit for her win with Anchorage Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin. Rankin said she’s known Brubaker her whole life, and sent the message to her mother that led her to compete at the civics bee in the first place.
“I knew she was brilliant,” Rankin said. “But I didn’t know she was going to go in the whole thing. But, I am pleasantly surprised, and I saw her this weekend, and I told her I wanted .1% of the credit, but she was willing to give me up to 15% of the credit, so I’ll take it.”
Brubaker’s civics bee winnings will help ease the financial burden on her family, who won’t have to decide between sending their daughter to college or paying for expensive dental procedures.
Brubaker said she and her father will keep advocating for ELSA until it becomes law.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
