'A very hopeful thing': Ridgeline High School team boasts knowledge with Civics Bowl win

Ridgeline High School is located in Liberty Lake, a city that didn't exist until the start of this century on land that wasn't part of that municipality until just before the school opened in 2021.

Ridgeline's recent history may have given it a slight boost as it clinched this year's KSPS Civics Bowl championship, which aired on Monday.

After rounds of intense civics-knowledge quizzing broadcast on KSPS, the RidgelineFalcons consisting of Talene Rivera, Tessa Currin, Vivian Van Buren, Abby Clevenger and alternates Mary Moore and Kate Taylor, took home the win, beating out seven other teams.

The Civics Bowl, hosted annually for Spokane-area high school s to test their knowledge of government, history and civics, wrapped Monday when Ridgeline beat Liberty High School on the final question.

As part of the final 90-second lightning round where any member of the team can buzz in to answer questions, the Liberty team buzzed in faster than Ridgeline, allowing them the first shot at answering the last question of the tournament, Ridgeline Captain Rivera said.

"The last question was what the term is for bringing an area that is not part of a city into a city," Rivera, a senior, said.

Knowing the answer was "incorporation," Rivera said she was relieved the Liberty team was unable to remember the answer, meaning they lost just enough points to tip the scales in Ridgeline's favor.

"I live just outside of Liberty Lake, so everyone's always talking about 'incorporating' the area that I live in into Liberty Lake," Rivera said, explaining why she knew the answer so fast.

But Rivera and her team's knowledge was honed by much more than just coincidence. Under coaches Brittney Bergman and Suzanne Smith, Ridgeline combined its Civic Club and Knowledge Bowl Team, meeting once a week before school to practice and brush up on potential questions.

"Civics is something that if you just let it slip by, then it can control your life without you realizing that you could have a say in it," Rivera said.

Now getting closer to her 18th birthday and being able to vote, Rivera said she's as "prepared as anyone can be at 17" to participate in local politics, something she attributes to the time she's spent studying for the Civics Bowl.

After graduating from Ridgeline, Rivera plans to attend Reed College in the fall.

Fellow senior teammate Currin, who plans to study psychology next year at the University of Virginia, said her experience with the tournament made her value her knowledge of civics and her ability to participate even more.

The nearly 500 questions asked during the civics tournament were created by a team of nine writers and three editors from the League of Women Voters, including volunteer Beth Pellicciotti who's responsible for civic education for the league.

Pellicciotti said they parse through textbooks used by local high schools for history and government classes to help write questions.

The students were asked about local and state affairs, American and Washington state history, federal government, Native American governance and pop culture.

"These young people know so much," Pellicciotti said. "It's a very hopeful thing. They're going to be very civically engaged."

The Civics Bowl teams also have a chance to experience KSPS's station where the episodes are filmed, Isaacson said.

"We try to make it just an overall experience for them here at the station because it can be kind of intimidating going in front of the bright studio lights," Isaacson said.

KSPS set up a social media with props and a life size George Washington cutout for the participants attending the tournament. Isaacson said the fun helps the contestants to just "be high schoolers" and shake out the nerves.

"I thought it was really cool to go in there and just be able to see how the studio functions," Currin said. "All the people were super nice and friendly, willing to give tours and show us how everything works."

Isaacson said while the episodes only run 28 minutes, they take about 2 1/2 hours to film, giving the students a chance to talk to coaches and potentially dispute judge's decisions if necessary.

KSPS brought in guest question readers like Ribby the Redband Trout from the Spokane Indians, Mayor Lisa Brown, Spokesman-Review Editor Rob Curley and other local politicians.

The team will be honored at 6 p.m. Monday at Community Days at Spokane City Hall.

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