Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was a champion of civics education. She once said, “The practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned anew by each generation.”
Given the state of democracy in our divided country — this issue came together during the longest federal government shutdown in history — we at Kids VT and Seven Days feel a responsibility to help act on O’Connor’s words. In 2018, with support from the Vermont Community Foundation, we launched the Good Citizen Challenge. This youth civics project invites kids in grades K-8 to complete activities that teach them about local history, government and current events. Often, participants must take action to improve their communities. The more they do, the more chances they have to win prizes — including the grand prize, a free trip to Washington, D.C., donated by Milne Travel.
All summer long, we collected entries and drew a weekly winner of a $50 gift card to Phoenix Books on WCAX-TV’s “Channel 3 This Morning.”
By the deadline on September 2, 183 young people from around Vermont had completed a total of 963 activities in the summer 2025 Challenge. These included picking up trash along a trail, visiting a historic site, reading a community newspaper and working with someone from a different background. The most popular activities: “Attend a Community Event,” “Go Jump in a Lake or a Public Pool,” and “Borrow Something From the Library.” Those who completed Activity No. 13, “Organize Support for a Cause,” brought in $2,680.81 for causes they care about.
We’ve collected some of the best work here, along with six mini profiles of the “Distinguished Citizens” who completed all 25 activities.
Thank you to the kids and teens who took the Challenge — and to the teachers, librarians and parents who helped — as well as our partners and sponsors. We hope it helps us pass this democracy on to the next generation.
Civic Stars
These Good Citizens completed all 25 activities in the 2025 Challenge! They’ll be invited to the Vermont Statehouse this winter to celebrate their achievement while the Vermont legislature is in session.
John J. Zampieri II, 7, South Ryegate
Johnny tackled this summer’s Good Citizen Challenge with gusto, inspired by his late grandfather, a member of the Vermont House of Representatives who later served as commissioner of state buildings and general services.
In an interview, Johnny said his favorite activities were No. 4, “Suggest a Memorial,” and No. 13, “Organize Support for a Cause.” His memorial depicted a hammer and chisel on a slab of granite to honor stonecutters such as his great-great-grandfather, who came to Vermont from Italy to work as one. For Activity No. 13, Johnny designed an eyeglasses donation box for the Lions Club, a service organization that collects glasses to be recycled. He made the box after seeing one at the local hospital.
“I wear glasses, and giving glasses to people who need them, like kids, is something I think is very important,” he said.
What does being a good citizen mean to Johnny? “Being nice to other people and suggesting new things and helping out in the town,” he said. He also said it’s important to follow the news to be aware of community events and issues and to stay informed “in cases like a flash flood or something important, like new discoveries.” Most nights, he watches the WCAX-TV evening news.
Johnny made the news himself this summer when he was featured in an article in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus for attending the Fish With a Warden event at Ricker Pond in Groton.
Susannah Rye, 11, Waterbury
This was Susannah’s third time participating in the Good Citizen Challenge, the second time she completed all the activities and the first time she won the grand prize — a free trip to Washington, D.C.
But the prize wasn’t her main motivator. She said she completed all 25 activities because “I want to help my community and make the world a better place.”
While she’s far from having to choose a career path, Susannah said that when she grows up, she might be interested in “something like journalism or something with writing.” Activity No. 23, “Talk to a Journalist,” proved to be an interesting task for her. “I got to interview my mom’s friend Lisa Scagliotti from the Waterbury Roundabout, and we talked for over an hour,” Susannah said. She heard stories from Scagliotti’s journalism career, why it’s important to cover local news and what the reporter life is like.
“It’s important to know what’s happening in the world and especially in your state,” Susannah said, “because if you don’t, then you don’t really know what’s going on around you.”
Susannah also spoke with firefighter Michael Frank when visiting the Waterbury Fire Department for Activity No. 7, and she asked him questions about why he took up his job. He “got inspired to volunteer from 9/11, and that was pretty interesting,” she said.
Activity No. 24, “Take a Quiz: Is This Real?,” also made an impression: “Say you ask AI a question, and then you ask your teacher, and your teacher says one thing, and AI says another … You want to know what’s right and what’s wrong,” Susannah said.
Her mom is proud of Susannah’s work this summer, especially talking to journalists. “One of the skills we really want to build with our kids is comfort advocating for themselves and comfort talking to other adults and not always with us as intermediaries,” she said.
Susannah said she’s excited to visit Washington, D.C., and meet with Vermont’s members of Congress or their staff members, as well as see the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Planet Word museum.
Ollie Grant, 7, Burlington
Ollie is famous — at least, according to his friends. To complete Activity No. 13, he set up a lemonade stand. He raised $25 for the Humane Society of Chittenden County and delivered the proceeds himself. Afterward, the humane society gave him a shout-out on Instagram, and both WCAX-TV and Seven Days shared the news.
Not all activities were so glamorous. Ollie visited the Ethan Allen Homestead to see a Revolutionary War play to complete Activity No. 16, “Visit a Historical Site or Museum.” “I learned about how they ate, washed clothes and fought in the war in the olden days!” Ollie said. Visiting the fire department was another highlight: “[The firefighters] were the same guys that have helped my family a few times. I learned about how they fix someone when they need heart help right away,” Ollie said.
For Activity No. 4, “Suggest a Memorial,” he actually made one — to honor Charles Dickens — with a little help from his grandpa. Ollie designed and built the Charles Dickens Memorial Free Library (and More), painted it with the help of his sister, and stationed it outside his house.
The “and More” hints that the library isn’t limited to books. As his mom explained, Ollie made the box a library and a food pantry after he found out that some of his classmates were losing their SNAP, or food stamp, benefits at the end of October because of the government shutdown.
Ivy Scull, 9, Putney
Ivy first heard about the Good Citizen Challenge from a participating friend and decided to do all 25 activities.
For Activity No. 13, “Organize Support for a Cause,” Ivy supported the Windham County Humane Society by doing a sponsored bike ride with friends. Community and family members donated $110 to support the cause. “The bike ride was my favorite [activity],” Ivy said. “They also sent me a thank-you note in the mail.”
Ivy wrote one of her own for Activity No. 11., “Write a Thank-You Note,” which she addressed to her school principal. “Thank you for making our school a fun place to go to,” the note read.
She learned about her local government and community through the Challenge. “I learned stuff about our house when we were visiting the [town] clerk,” Ivy said, referring to Activity No. 9, “Visit the Clerk.” “Their books are, like, this thick,” she added, holding her hands several inches apart.
Ivy held a “forest theater” in her community with a Spanish-speaking friend to complete Activity No. 18, “Work Together With Someone From a Different Background.” She used sign language, combined with some Spanish she knows, to put on the show.
Why is it important to work with people from different backgrounds? According to Ivy, “You can learn what other people are experiencing in different countries or different states and maybe learn some other things from them.”
Loretta Boatwright, 9, New Haven
At first, Loretta wasn’t sure she wanted to do the Challenge. But her mom encouraged her to try, and as soon as she started she was hooked. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun,” she admitted, reflecting on what she’d done over the summer.
Loretta’s favorite activities were No. 5, “Go Jump in a Lake or a Public Pool”; No. 6, “Read a Book”; and No. 18, “Work Together With Someone From a Different Background.” For the last one, she raised money for the nonprofit Open Door Clinic, which provides health care in Addison County for underserved adults. She worked with her friend from Florida, who is of Ecuadorean and Jamaican descent and has lived in many different countries. “We all need to work together to make our world go ’round,” Loretta said.
A few activities in the challenge get kids out into the community, such as attending a community event or supporting a local business. “It’s important to still be with other people, even though there’s the internet,” Loretta said.
To that end, Loretta visited the library, where the librarian told her about an interesting way to share books called an interlibrary loan. “It means you order something from the library, but it comes from a different library. So, you can still get the same book you want,” Loretta said.
For Activity No. 20, “Read the News,” she went the extra mile, sending a letter to the editor of her local paper, the Addison County Independent.
“Accomplishing the entire challenge … that took a lot of perseverance,” Loretta’s mom said.
Ella Brown, 9, Newfane
Ella started the Good Citizen Challenge this summer just for fun but quickly discovered that completing each activity could make a difference in her community — and teach her more about the place she lives. She was the first to complete all 25 activities this year.
Ella started by designing a “Future Voter” sticker, Activity No. 1. Hers featured Vermont’s state flower, the red clover. For Activity No. 6, “Read a Book,” she read Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty, about a girl who makes change in her community by turning a trash mountain into a park. “She’s a Good Citizen because she helped the environment with getting rid of most of the trash” in her town, Ella said. Later in the challenge, she completed another activity by collecting a bag full of trash along Route 30.
She also learned why it’s important to keep up with local news. “There’s lots of important things on the news that you can learn from,” Ella said. She learned about whistling by listening to an episode of Vermont Public’s “But Why” podcast for kids. “My dad is really good at it and should become a professional whistler,” she said. She also read the Commons, her local newspaper, where she learned about Vermont Days, when admission is free at state parks.
For Activity No. 13, “Organize Support for a Cause,” Ella organized a sponsored bike ride for the Monadnock Humane Society, where she got her pet rabbit. “That one was probably my favorite,” Ella said. She made a flyer and wrote to family and friends, Ella’s mom said. From their donations, she raised $125. “We made ribbons to give out to everyone afterwards,” her mom added. “And then she had to write a letter to the humane society.”
“It opened our ability to figure out what’s available and in our community already,” Ella’s mom said.
Outdoor Adventures
Rose Smith, 9, of Reading, won the 2026 Vermont State Parks vehicle pass. “It is important to support our state parks so they stay open and we can have fun there,” she said.
Designs for Democracy
Activity No. 1 invited Challenge participants to create “Future Voter” stickers. The winning sticker and two runners-up will be produced and distributed by the Secretary of State’s Office. A panel of judges — including Seven Days art director and Kids VT coloring contest creator Diane Sullivan — chose the winner: Piper Blanchard, 9, of Randolph.
One judge said: “From the complementary colors of the fall foliage trees to the friendly moose to the neatly symmetrical lettering, this sticker stood out. Will the moose be eligible to vote someday? Unlikely … but Vermont’s youths certainly will, and this is a sticker they can proudly display in the meantime!”
Said another: “The friendly moose and fall landscape make voting feel positive for young people, and the ballot check mark sends a clear civic message. It’s eye-catching, memorable and inspires pride in becoming a voter.”
Runners-up Vivi Milles, 7, of Richmond, and Elianna Venables Vogel, 13, of Ferrisburgh, will also have their stickers printed and distributed to future voters.
In the Ballpark
A pair of sisters, Amelia and Eleanor Dabritz, ages 11 and 9, of Burlington, won the Vermont Lake Monsters prize in this year’s Challenge — 25 tickets to see the Monsters next summer at Centennial Field, plus two Lake Monsters baseball caps.
The girls were among the Good Citizen participants who attended a game and submitted it for Activity No. 10, “Attend a Community Event.”
Why should you attend local events? Said Amelia: “You can meet new people or run into friends you weren’t expecting to see.”
Front Porch Prize
Activity No. 14, “Recognize a Good Citizen,” invited Challenge participants to honor someone in their lives who demonstrates the qualities of a Good Citizen. Lilah Foerster of Ferrisburgh highlighted her teacher, Kaci Pierce . Lilah’s nomination said, “Mrs. Pierce is a good teacher and a good citizen too. She’s really nice and she helped me learn.” Lilah’s nomination was chosen by Front Porch Forum as the winner of its Good Citizen prize: a $250 gift card. Said Susannah Kerest, marketing and communications director: “Front Porch Forum was pleased to present Kaci Pierce with a gift card to her favorite local restaurant in recognition of her service.”
The Winning Teams
The Malikians of Champlain Elementary School in Burlington, named after teacher Aziza Malik, won the prize for most activities completed as a team. Its members earned the opportunity to give a $500 grant from Vermont Humanities to the nonprofit of their choice. Their pick: New Farms for New Americans, a community-based gardening and agriculture program for refugees and immigrants. Vermont Humanities director Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup presented the check to farm program coordinator Alisha Laramee after school one day in October.
The team from the Morristown Centennial Library won the prize for the best work — for the third year in a row! Its members chose to donate the grant back to the library.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Good Citizens Give Back”
This article appears in Kids VT Winter 2025.
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