Fifteen Washington state middle schoolers represented their communities and demonstrated their civics knowledge at the 2025 National Civics Bee Washington state finals — and a new Washington state National Civics Bee champion has earned a ticket to Washington, D.C., and a $1,000 cash prize.

The AWB Institute partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for the third year to host a statewide civics competition at the Olympia High School Performing Arts Center on June 21.

The National Civics Bee invites sixth, seventh and eighth grade students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. The Washington state finalists were selected based on their essay submissions and the results of regional competitions hosted by four Washington chambers this spring.

Maanha Nasir, who just completed the eighth grade at Washington Virtual Academies, won first place and will represent the state at the National Civics Bee Championship in Washington, D.C., this November, competing against other state Civics Bee champions. Maanha, who is from Snoqualmie, gave a speech about education inequality between nearby school districts.

“Civics opened the door to something so much larger than life,” Maanha said. “Middle schoolers may not be able to vote, but we do have a voice.”

This is the second straight year that Washington Virtual Academies has had a first-place finisher.

The competition included two quiz rounds with questions on the U.S. Constitution, branches of government and court cases. After the second round, there was a tiebreaker between four students. The final five were given three minutes to pitch their ideas for how they can improve their communities through civics to the judges.