MADISON – Nearly 100 students from 25 schools competed today in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation’s Civics Games regional competitions. 

The teams, each comprising up to four students, faced off head-to-head to answer questions about the state budget, local elections, legislative term limits, quorums and other civics-related issues. Competitions were held at UW-Eau Claire, Barron County, UW-Green Bay, UW-Madison and UW-Platteville.

Ten teams — the two top-scoring teams from each region — advance to the Wisconsin Civics Games championship on Feb. 23 at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.

Each member of the state championship winning team will receive a $2,000 scholarship to a Wisconsin college or university. 

» Related:

• Ten teams advance in first-ever Civics Games
• Waunakee team moves on to Civics Games finals
• Civics Games competition held in Rice Lake
• Big Foot advances to Civics Games finals
• Turner competes in Civics Games
• Platteville, Cassville win first Civics Games regional
• Seneca High School competes in Wisconsin Civics Games

The WNA Foundation Board of Directors hopes the Civics Games, which were launched in an effort to address a decline in civic education and engagement, will inspire a new generation of leaders to become involved in the political process. 

The Region 4 competition, which was set to take place at UW-Milwaukee, was canceled Thursday after school disruptions caused by this week’s frigid temperatures prompted several schools to withdraw today from the competition. Only two schools remained: Big Foot High School and Muskego High School, both of which will advance to the finals.

The WNA Foundation would like to thank all of the Civics Games sponsors, volunteers, judges, newspapers and participating schools who have helped make the inaugural event a reality. 

The Games are done in partnership with WisconsinEye, Wisconsin Policy Forum, the Girl Scout Councils of Wisconsin, and the five UW campuses: UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, UW-Platteville and UW-Eau Claire, Barron County.

Civics Games sponsors include the Evjue Foundation, Center for the Study of Institutions & Innovation, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Local Government Institute of Wisconsin, Polco, Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership, Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies, and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The two top-scoring teams from today’s regional competitions advance to the finals Feb. 23 in Madison. They are (an asterisk denotes the regional winner): 

Region 1: UW-Eau Claire, Barron County

---

Region 2: UW-Green Bay

---

Region 3: UW-Platteville

---

Region 4: UW-Madison

---

Region 5: UW-Milwaukee

Milwaukee regional competitions were canceled after all but two teams withdrew. The remaining two teams automatically advance to the finals.