Anchorage middle schooler triumphs in national civic engagement competition

An Anchorage middle schooler, 14-year-old Emily Brubaker, won the National Civics Bee championship in Washington, D.C. — and with it, a $100,000 prize.

The inaugural competition, hosted Nov. 12 by the nonprofit U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, brought together youth finalists from 27 states to test their civic knowledge, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The bee was created to inspire young people to be civically engaged, according to the foundation.

Brubaker won the Alaska statewide bee in June. She traveled to D.C. earlier this month with her parents and grandmother. She said she prepared for the competition by regularly studying, including having her friends quiz her on Supreme Court cases, and by watching movies on President John Adams and the Pentagon Papers that her dad suggested.

At the competition, Brian and Amber Brubaker cheered on their daughter as she advanced in the five-round competition.

“Every round we were so nervous,” Brian Brubaker said. “Like: ‘Is she going to make it to the final 10?’ And she did. And then, ‘Oh boy, is she going to make it to the final five?’ And she did.”

Before Emily Brubaker knew what civics was, she was doing it, her dad said.

Since she was 6 years old, she’s been advocating for legislation that would amend federal law and require health insurance companies to pay for congenital anomaly treatments.

The Romig Middle School student has a rare congenital condition called hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, which affects her hair, skin and teeth.

“According to the CDC, one in 33 babies born in the U.S. is born with a rare congenital anomaly. These people can expect to get three to five major surgeries in their lives regarding their condition, which insurance won’t pay for. This includes me,” Brubaker said in her speech, delivered to a live audience and five judges. “Since I am missing numerous adult and baby teeth, I am facing extensive dental work ahead, potentially costing my family over $100,000.”

It’s basically choosing between, are you going to put money away for college, or are you going to get your child’s teeth done, Brian Brubaker said.

The solution, Emily Brubaker said, is the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, or ELSA. Since kindergarten, she’s been working with lawmakers to pass the law, including traveling to the nation’s capital to meet with U.S. senators, representatives and other advocates.

In 2022, Alaska’s full congressional delegation cosponsored ELSA. That same year, the bill passed in the House of Representatives with a bipartisan supermajority. It didn’t pass in the Senate, but is expected to be reintroduced, Brubaker said.

When judges announced Brubaker as the winner, she said, she was shocked.

“I was up on the stage and they shot streamers out of the ceiling,” Brubaker said. “I was like, ‘Wow!’”

She was presented with a giant check, a college savings plan, for $100,000. She said one way she might use the money is toward a degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, since her dream job is to work as a satellite programmer at NASA.

Brubaker stood out for “her insightful answers, poise, and depth of civic knowledge,” judges said in a press release. In second place was Michael O’Mara of Iowa, and third was Keith Lee of New Mexico.

Emily’s dad said he thinks his daughter stood out for the exemplary civic engagement she’s already done in her young life.

“Some of the finalists, they were talking about what they would do, what they might do,” he said. “For Emily, it’s what she has done.”