Osceola County student wins Florida State Civics Bee, heads to Nationals

An Osceola County student is heading to Washington, D.C., to represent Florida in the 2026 National Civics Bee.Araoluwakiitan A., now a freshman at NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee, won the Florida State Civics Bee in June, earning a $1,000 prize and a spot in the national competition.He advanced to the state competition after placing third in The Osceola Chamber’s regional Civics Bee in April while he was an eighth grader at Voyager K-8 School in St. Cloud.Araoluwakiitan competed against finalists from across Florida on June 30 in Tallahassee and took the top prize.He will now represent Florida at the National Civics Bee on Oct. 14 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C.The competition will be televised live on C-SPAN and YouTube at 8 p.m. ET, according to The Osceola Chamber. The national winner will receive a $100,000 education fund.This isn’t Araoluwakiitan’s first trip through the competition. He won Osceola County’s regional Civics Bee in 2025 before finishin