Meet Our Mid-Valley: Keizer teen is passionate about civics and history
This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.
Keizer resident Thomas Morgan placed first in the inaugural Oregon Civics Bee and will represent the state at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s National Civics Bee in the fall.
The Oregon Civics Bee was held in late May at Willamette University, where Morgan competed with 18 other middle school student finalists from around the state. He won $1,000, while Grace Kim of Eugene was the runner-up and Shivani Nirmal-Shankar of Sherwood finished third.
Morgan, a rising ninth grader, said he has always loved learning history and seeing how the government works, which has evolved into an interest in civics. He is homeschooled by his mom, Amanda, but has been independently studying civics since entering middle school.
He said he originally saw the advertisement for the Oregon Civics Bee on Facebook last fall. The competition's essay application asked students how they would address a civics-related issue in their community.
Morgan chose to write about the Keizer Community Library, as he relies on the community space to do his school work. After his family moved from Wilsonville in 2022, the comparison between his old town's library and Keizer's was "sad," he said.
The Keizer library is a nonprofit and is volunteer-run. Morgan said it has primarily older books and not as much programming offered as in Wilsonville where the library is funded by the city. Keizer has a bigger population than Wilsonville yet the size and resources offered by its library are not the same as what is offered in Wilsonville, Morgan said. His essay detailed potential ways to get more funding and a new library space in Keizer, including partnering with local businesses and community organizations.
The second round of the Civics Bee held at Willamette was a quiz-style competition requiring students to answer multiple choice questions. The top five scorers made it to a third round, where the finalists gave a three-minute pitch of their submitted essays and answered questions by a panel of judges.
"I want to see a change in our nation and the world, because if we can change America we can make a better example for folks around the world," Morgan said.
Morgan's dad, Ben, said his son has expressed interest in going into politics because of his desire to see change.
Morgan said he hopes people become more conscious of the world around them, especially since the pandemic. He said as part of the next generation to lead the nation, knowing what's going on is crucial to understanding the world. Morgan believes having a library with programming that teaches people about civics is a great place to jumpstart the public's interest in the topic.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s National Civics Bee will take place in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12.
If you have an idea for someone we should profile for this series, please email Statesman Journal executive editor Cherrill Crosby at crosbyc@statesmanjournal.com
Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on X @catchuptoemily.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Keizer teenager places first in inaugural Oregon Civics Bee
