2 San Pedro Students Win Citizen Bee Competition

Two San Pedro high schools students won first place Saturday in the South Bay regional finals of a nationwide civic competition Saturday.

Ivo M. Labar, a senior at San Pedro High School, and James K. Fujita, a junior at Marystar of the Sea High School, were among nearly 300 students to compete in regional competitions Saturday throughout Southern California.

The Citizen Bee competition, in its second year in California, is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and the Close Up Foundation, a Washington-based organization devoted to civic education. The question-and-answer session tests students’ knowledge of American government and history, geography, economics, culture and current events.

Labar and Fujita each won $500 and a change to participate in the state finals to be held April 28 at the University of Southern California. Winners of the state competition will receive a three-day expense-paid trip to the national finals in Washington.

Second-place finishers in the South Bay were Brian Y. Yamasaki of Gardena High School and Abigail Derecho of Narbonne High School. Marisa Aliber of Inglewood High School and Chikako Imoto of South High School in Torrance won third-place awards.

Students participating in Saturday’s competition came from high schools in Wilmington, Rolling Hills Estates, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, San Pedro, Manhattan Beach, Harbor City, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Carson.

One of California’s state champions last year, Ken Kuniyuki of Torrance, placed third in the national championship.