A team of students from Ridgeline High School in Liberty Lake, Washington, captured the KSPS Civics Bowl championship this year, outlasting seven competing schools in a tournament that tested knowledge of government, history, and civic life. The victory came down to a single question in the final round’s closing seconds.
Championship Decided in Final Seconds
Ridgeline faced Liberty High School in the championship match, with the outcome hinging on a 90-second lightning round. Team captain Talene Rivera, a 12th-grader, recalled the decisive moment: “The last question was what the term is for bringing an area that is not part of a city into a city.” The answer — “incorporation” — secured the title for Ridgeline.
Other team members who competed for the championship included seniors Tessa Currin, Vivian Van Buren, and Kate Taylor, along with 11th-grader Abby Clevenger. Mary Moore, a 9th-grader, served as an alternate alongside Taylor.
The Civics Bowl, which airs on Spokane public broadcaster KSPS, features 28-minute episodes that take roughly two and a half hours to film. Across the full tournament, competitors fielded nearly 500 questions covering local government, Washington state history, federal institutions, Native American governance, American history, and even pop culture. Those questions were developed by nine writers and three editors working with the League of Women Voters.
Weekly Practice and a Combined Approach
Coaches Brittney Bergman and Suzanne Smith guided the Ridgeline squad through a preparation process that brought together two school organizations — the Civic Club and the Knowledge Bowl team — meeting once a week before school to sharpen their civic knowledge.
Ridgeline itself is a relatively new institution. The school opened in 2021 in Liberty Lake, a community that only came into existence at the start of this century. The team’s Civics Bowl win represents a notable early milestone for a school still establishing its identity and traditions.
Beth Pellicciotti, who oversees civic education for the League of Women Voters and helped coordinate the tournament, said the competition left her encouraged by the depth of knowledge the students demonstrated. “These young people know so much,” she said. “It’s a very hopeful thing. They’re going to be very civically engaged.”
Guest question readers during the filming included Ribby the Redband Trout — the mascot of the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team — as well as Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and a local newspaper editor.
Recognition and What Comes Next
The Ridgeline team is scheduled to be honored at 6 p.m. Monday during Community Days at Spokane City Hall, where city officials will recognize the students for their achievement.
For the team’s seniors, the win caps off their high school careers on a high note before they head to college. Talene Rivera, the team captain who answered the championship-clinching final question, plans to attend Reed College in Oregon this fall. Tessa Currin will study psychology at the University of Virginia.
Civic engagement through academics has been a theme at schools across the region. Closer to home in Bonner County, students at Lake Pend Oreille High School recently channeled that same spirit of community service by donating greenhouse-grown plant starts to the Sandpoint Food Bank, demonstrating how young people throughout North Idaho and the broader Inland Northwest are taking active roles in their communities.
The KSPS Civics Bowl championship adds Ridgeline High School to a roster of schools that have used the competition as a launchpad for developing students who are informed about the governmental structures that shape their daily lives — from municipal incorporation to the workings of federal institutions.