Members of the Osceola County School District, NeoCity Academy and The Osceola Chamber of Commerce celebrated Araoluwa Afolabi, center with his father, Abolasade. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Araoluwa Afolabi’s interest in America’s form of government, and being passionate about the subject of human trafficking, has earned him a place on a national stage.
The 13-year-old freshman at NeoCity Academy placed second in the National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C.
The competition included a group project, general knowledge questions (tough ones!) about the government, a one-on-one “gauntlet” against another competitors and then a five-way Final Jeopardy!-style final round, where he tied for the lead, and eventually finished second.
That runner-up finish earned him a $25,000 academic 529 account toward his eventual college education.
Afolabi, who is of Nigerian heritage, said his interest in civics— in a nutshell, it’s the study of how the American government formed and is run—came in elementary school when he got interested in the election process.
“It turned into listening about government, then turned into political history, and I just got so interested in geopolitics and elections that I felt like I should enter the National Civics Bee,” he said.
Enter he did. In the 2025 Bee, while a seventh-grader at Voyager K-8 in Sunbridge, he won The Osceola Chamber’s regional Civics Bee, earning him a place in the state competition, where he placed fourth.
He was third locally this year, and then went to Tallahassee and won the state competition, punching his ticket into the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s live National Civics Bee Championships at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C. before placing fourth in the state competition that year.
What kicked off all of this was a qualifying essay he wrote on human trafficking, a weighty civic issue for anyone, let alone a teenager.
“It wasn’t just an assignment to get into a competition, it’s a way for me to be able to do something about a problem in this country,” Afolabi said.
The first round of the National Bee, which aired live on C-SPAN and Youtube last week, involved collaborating with others in the contest. Judges used that exercise to cut the field down from 52 (50 state representatives plus Washington D.C. and American Samoa) to 25 who moved on to the multiple-choice question round.
“We had 40 minutes to plan a presentation, and the judges were watching our every move,” Afolabi said. “We had 10 minutes to present and 10 minutes for Q&A and it was really tense, but I ended up being more calm when it got to the end, because I realized that I was moving on. Collaborating is the most important part of civics, and the most important part of any subject.”
The field of 25 shrunk to the top 10, where Afolabi was paired in one of five one-onone knowledge battles to set the final field.
Araoluwa’s father Abolasade Afolabi said he’s proud to see his son take such an interest in the workings of his adopted home country.
“America is the greatest country in the world, the most powerful nation, the greatest nation,” the dad said. “When he was sending in his proposal and ask for help with it, I realized how schools are taking (human trafficking) seriously.”
Osceola County School Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff said he looks forward on working with Araoluwa on his human trafficking prevention proposal.
“Aaroluwa represents is everything that is fantastic about the students in Osceola County, the idea that somebody who has a passion for civics education can find that pathway within our school district, find an educator that allows them to continue to push and be the best that they can possibly be when it comes to that passion, I think, is a microcosm of exactly what we’re trying to do within our school system,” he said. “To address social issues that are of major importance across the country, and so somebody who believes that they can make a difference locally when it comes to human trafficking education, especially with the youth in Osceola County, I think is a great launching point.”
John Newstreet, CEO of The Osceola Chamber, which hosted the local competition, said those with a civics background become future leaders.
“Business needs a positive environment to operate in, and civics intersects with that very heavily, so we’re very proud of Araoluwa’s success,” Newstreet said.
The Chamber is already planning, and accepting essay entries for, the 2027 local Civics Bee, open to students in sixth through eighth grade. Essays are due by Feb. 2, 2027. For information, www.theosceola chamber.com/national-civics-bee.
