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Gibson wins 32nd Texas Citizen Bee competition at LSCPA






They say history repeats itself. For the Gibson family, that is certainly the case.

Nate Gibson recently won the 32^nd Annual Citizen Bee competition, hosted by Lamar State College Port Arthur, taking first place in the regional event and earning a spot in the state competition later this month.

But Nate is not the first Gibson to garner the top spot in this competition that tests knowledge of the Constitution. The Gibson children, who all graduated from Acorns to Oaks Academy in Damon, Texas, located just southwest of Houston, have earned top spots at the state Citizen Bee competition. The eldest, Garrett, first competed at LSCPA in spring 2002. He is now an attorney. The youngest of the five Gibson children, Nate, competed this year as a junior. He placed second in the event a year ago.

The competition produces the representative from Southeast Texas who will compete at the state competition in Austin on April 23, 2022. The Sumners Foundation and the Law-Related Education Department of the State Bar of Texas sponsor this program.

Total Energies sponsored the event, as they have for many years, providing funding for the competition itself as well as the prize money presented to the winners.

Gibson took home $500 for his first-place finish, while Christina Marquez-Pereda of West Brook High School in Beaumont won $250 for second place. Bryan Rocha of Port Arthur Woodrow Wilson Early College High School placed third with a $125 cash award, and Olivie de La Madrid of West Brook HS, placed fourth and received $75. Regional awards also included gift cards of $250 for first place, $100 for second, and $50 for third.

Students compete individually in the Citizen Bee, a test of their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and other important documents, people, issues, civic values, and current events. The event consists of a one-hour individual written examination, followed by oral questions in a virtual forum conducted on the LSCPA campus.

All of the questions and answers for the written and oral exams were available in the on-line study guide provided by the Law Focused Education, Inc., State Bar of Texas.

Dr. Tina Capeles and Dr. Michelle Davis coordinated the event at LSCPA with a steering committee consisting of Doneane Beckcom, Dr. Percy Jordan, Dr. Pamela Millsap, and David Morales. All are administrators or instructors at the college. Hilda Billups, director of Dual Enrollment at LSCPA, served as the moderator.

Other students who participated in the event included:

Jasper High School: Caleb Hicks

Wilson Early College High School: Nancy Le

Sabine Pass High School: Alexander Jackson and Daniela Contreras

West Brook High School: Sarah Adams and Luke Hanson