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• Fifth grade class from Champlain Elementary School after picking up trash

Picking up trash, listening to candidate debates, raising money for local charities, reading the news — over the past few months, Vermont kids have been doing all of these things as part of Seven Days' Good Citizen Challenge. This nonpartisan youth civics project encourages students in grades K through 8 to learn about and get involved in their communities by doing these and other civic-themed activities.

For each one they complete, they're entered to win prizes including a free trip to Washington, D.C.

So far this summer, Good Citizen participants from around the state have done more than 900 activities. Some kids do just one, others set out to become "Distinguished Citizens" by completing all 25.

We've promoted the Challenge in print, on the radio, on TV and online through all of our awesome media partners. You might have seen me on WCAX-TV Channel 3 giving away prizes every Thursday during the morning newscast.

Middlebury College student Ben Conway, our Good Citizen intern, also distributed thousands of pocket brochures at stores and libraries. He and I handed them out in person, with help from other Seven Days staff, at events including Vermont Lake Monsters baseball games, a Vermont Green FC soccer match, Waterbury's Not Quite Independence Day parade and the Do Good Fest in Montpelier. We took lots of photos of people holding our "I'm a Good Citizen" signs; attending a community event was activity No. 9!

Seeing and interacting with so many smiling, community-minded kids and parents was our own Good Citizen prize. We're looking forward to seeing those Good Citizens again at the awards reception at the Statehouse on Thursday, September 19.

In the meantime, here are a few notable entries to inspire you during what promises to be a divisive fall election season, along with a list of the 2024 Challenge activities. The deadline to enter is Labor Day, September 2, but most of these are things you can do anytime — especially the ones about following the local news!

Support Others

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• Grace Gillman

Good Citizens are people who can be counted on to pitch in when needed. Many Challenge participants demonstrated that they're willing to lend a hand by completing activity No. 12: Organize Support for a Cause.

Grace Gillman, 8, raised more than $100 for the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington in June. "I baked two types of cookies with my grandma and sold them at our community garage sale," she said.

Claire Sparrow Zandstra, 13, of Topsham sold earrings and cards at the Blake Memorial Library's plant and book sale and raised more than $40.

Susannah Rye, 10, of Waterbury invited her neighbors to join her in donating items to the Waterbury Common Market, a food resource for area families. "I just reached out to them over email and a lot of them responded," she wrote.

Lemonade stands were also popular. Students from the Hyde Park Elementary summer program set up one to support the Lamoille Area Cancer Network.

Piper Blanchard of Randolph sold lemonade before the July 3 fireworks to raise money for the Randolph recreation department. "I go to camp there, I love their skating rink, and the outdoor pool!" she wrote.

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• Willa and Hazel Saunders with friend Sophie selling lemonade to benefit the Intervale farmers' flood relief

Willa and Hazel Saunders of Burlington sold lemonade with their friend Sophie to benefit flood relief for Intervale farmers. "We chose this cause because we saw a story on the local news about the flooding and our family often buys food grown by the farmers there," Willa wrote.

And Clark and Maeve Dickinson organized a lemonade stand in front of their house in Williston. With help from many very generous neighbors, they raised $3,000 for HOPE in Vermont, an organization involved in flood recovery efforts in the Northeast Kingdom. Their mom, Sarah Dickinson, is from the NEK and reached out to friends in Lyndonville to find out which agency would make the most of their donation.

Dickinson was moved by all the people who stepped up to support her kids' efforts. "It was a beautiful thing," she said, "and it lets kids see that they can have an even bigger impact than they thought."

Stay Safe

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• Morristown Centennial Library team at the fire station

Vermont fire and rescue departments respond to many different types of emergencies. They're staffed by paid and volunteer members who participate in trainings to stay current with the equipment they use. For activity No. 7, we asked participants to visit their local fire and rescue squad.

Tucker Boutin, 8, visited the Fairfax Fire Department. "We brought them some pizza as a thank you for their service," he wrote.

Alaina Willette, 11, of Ferrisburgh visited her local rescue squad in Vergennes and met an advanced emergency medical technician and an EMT in training. They explained that EMTs do a lot of computer testing and hands-on training, and they let Alaina and her sister check out the ambulance.

The members of the Morristown Centennial Library Team visited their local fire station and learned what a volunteer fire department means, what it takes to be a junior recruit, and how the department helps out with other emergencies, such as car accidents and the recent flooding. "Then we got to walk all around the rest of the fire house, sit in the trucks, try on the gear, and check out the equipment they use," librarian Maggie Cleary wrote. Almost everyone who tried it on said it was "really heavy."

Say Thank You

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• Thank you note from Susannah Rye

For activity No. 10, participants wrote thank-you notes to people in their lives who've helped them in some way without asking for anything in return. We received lots of notes to neighbors, teachers, bus drivers, school chaperones and librarians.

Alaina Willette wrote to the volunteers involved in restoring Ferrisburgh's Union Meeting Hall. "Thanks for planning and hosting fun events for our community," she wrote. Alaina presented the note in person to president Ashley LaFlam and treasurer Lindsey Brown.

According to Brown, Alaina's delivery of the card "just gave me such a big feeling of joy." Brown got involved with the meeting hall to help create a welcoming place where children can feel they belong, so "that card just really hit home for me" by demonstrating that her hard work has been worth it.

Susannah and Jacob Rye of Waterbury wrote to the staff of Revitalizing Waterbury, an organization that puts on events such as Waterbury Arts Fest. Executive director Karen Nevin said the notes were received — and appreciated. "It was incredibly sweet, and totally unexpected," she wrote in an email. "It feels good to know that our work is recognized in the community."

Don't Believe Everything You See

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• Eleanor Weaver testing her powers of perception in activity No. 23

Activity No. 24 asks kids to take two tests. One is a quiz called "Spot the Troll" that was developed by the Clemson University Media Forensics Hub. It features eight social media profiles and asks the quiz taker to guess if the account belongs to a real person or if it's a fake account created to spread spam or misinformation. The second test was created by University of Washington professors Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom. "Which Face Is Real?" presents two faces — one that's real and one that's AI-generated — and asks the test taker to guess which one is legit. It's harder than you might think. That's the conclusion many Good Citizen participants came to.

"It was pretty hard to guess the faces," wrote Amelia Dabritz, 10, of Burlington.

Quinn Stephens, 12, of Jeffersonville took the "Spot the Troll" quiz. "I got four out of eight correct. I found it interesting how well they could hide as real people!" she wrote.

Finn Sterling Nunery, 11, of Craftsbury Common summed up the lesson best: "It was hard to tell the real people from the fake people." A good reminder in the AI age to question what you see and check your sources before believing or spreading information and photos, especially online.

Follow the News

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• Morristown Centennial Library team at the News & Citizen office

Helping kids develop news literacy skills has always been an important part of the Challenge. Good Citizens keep up with local news so they can make informed decisions about how our communities are governed.

Many students reported listening to or watching local news broadcasts, as well as listening to "But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids." We loved seeing photos of Good Citizens reading newspapers.

Michael Blanchard, 9, of North Springfield sent a picture of him reading his local newspaper.

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• Michael Blanchard reads his local newspaper

Lilah Foerster, 6, of North Ferrisburgh can't read yet, but her mom read to her from their local paper, the Addison County Independent.

Lots of participants also talked with local journalists for activity No. 23. A fifth grade class from Champlain Elementary School in Burlington interviewed the WCAX news reporter who interviewed them for a TV segment.

The Morristown Centennial Library team talked with the editor of their local paper, the Morrisville News & Citizen. They visited the paper's office and looked through the archives.

We were also thrilled to see so many photos from kids who found the "masthead" of their news source, activity No. 22. This is the place in the newspaper or on the website that tells you who produces the publication, who owns it and where it is based.