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Moorpark Student Wins the State’s First Citizen Bee

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Times Staff Writer

California’s first Citizen Bee, matching 33 high school finalists in competition covering American history, geography, economics, politics, culture and current events, was won Saturday by an 11th grader from Ventura County--on his 17th birthday.

Stephanus Philip of Moorpark, a student at Chaminade College Preparatory, a private Roman Catholic school in the San Fernando Valley community of West Hills, was declared the state winner in the 27th round in head-on competition with Margaret Kuo, 17, of San Clemente High School.

Stephanus, Margaret and third-place winner Ken Kuniyuki, an 11th grader from Torrance High School, now advance to national competition on June 17 in Washington, where they will face 73 other contestants from 28 states.

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Margaret, a 12th grader who was born in Taipei but has lived in the United States since she was 1 year old, is the first girl to reach the national finals in four years of Citizen Bee competition. Stephanus was declared the winner after he had correctly answered two questions in a row after a miss by Margaret.

Asked to identify the name commonly given to laws passed by Southern legislatures after the Civil War to keep blacks from voting and to identify one such measure, Stephanus replied, “Black codes and literacy tests.” He then correctly identified the Northeast as the region that lost the most seats in the House of Representatives after the 1980 census.

The first five winners in Saturday’s competition, patterned after a spelling bee, received cash awards.

Pedro Cardenas, a Garfield High senior, placed fifth and collected $250. David Lee, an 11th grader from Diamond Bar High School, won $500 for fourth. Ken Kuniyuki received $750 for third, and Stephanus Philip and Margaret Kuo each received $1,000.

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