FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2017
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
(800) 204-2222, ext. 1706, or (512) 427-1706
astarnes@texasbar.com

El Paso, Hurst, Amarillo, and Carrollton students take top spots in 2017 Texas Citizen Bee

AUSTIN — Students from the Fabens, Canyon, Creekview, and Hurst-Euless-Bedford school districts earned the top four spots in the 2017 Texas Citizen Bee.

The Texas Citizen Bee is sponsored by a grant from the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation and coordinated by the Law-Related Education Department of the State Bar of Texas.

Twenty high school students competed in the statewide finals of the Bee, which were held April 29 at the Texas Law Center in Austin. The competition offers high school students and their teachers an exciting way to reach and study America’s heritage. The Bee covers the U.S. Constitution, important documents, people, issues, civic values and skills, and a current events category. The competition begins with all contestants taking a timed, multiple-choice written examination. Then students compete in an oral round in which each student answers one question from each of the categories.

The top four students qualify for another level of the competition called a “Civic Conversation,” where students are given a question and documents and 30 minutes to prepare an opening statement before fielding questions on the topic.

The top four finishers, their teachers, and their prizes are listed below:

1st Place
Rodrigo Estrada
Fabens ISD, Fabens
$1,000 scholarship
Teacher: Raul Tarrango

2nd Place
Sam Schaaf
Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, Hurst
$750 scholarship
Teacher: Regina Swann

3rd Place
Joojin Abaoag
Canyon ISD, Amarillo
$500 scholarship
Teacher: Aaron Faver

4th Place
Katherine Jouett
Creekview ISD, Carrollton
$250 scholarship
Teacher: Jonathan Ray

Media Note: Photos of the winners are available upon request.

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