The Knox County Chamber of Commerce held its inaugural Civics Bee this weekend.

Two students were awarded top honors in the competition on Saturday, which was open to middle schoolers throughout Indiana and feeds into the state and national Civics Bee.

6th grade home school student Ellen Cunningham of Terre Haute earned first place and a check for $500.

The second place $250 prize was awarded to North Knox 7th grader Adrian Moon.

Each student was also gifted the iPad they used during the first two rounds of the competition, which included multiple choice questions testing their civics knowledge.

The young ladies were also judged on essays they submitted in January, as well as a question and answer session covering their essays during the weekend’s competition.

Chamber president Jamie Neal says although participation was light for the first year, the quality of the competitors was great.

Both finalists now move on to the state competition at the statehouse in August.

Neal says her goal for next year’s competition is to increase awareness about the civics bee and to invite middle school teachers to include the essay submissions in their lesson plans for this coming fall.