CECILIA, Ky. (WDRB) -- Every student in Kentucky will soon have to pass the U.S. citizenship test as a requirement to graduate high school.
Beginning in 2019, all seniors in Kentucky must pass the same test given to new citizens in our country.
Central Hardin High School and many other schools in the state started giving the test this year to sophomores and juniors to allow a wide window for retakes.
Emily Wortham, who teaches at Central Hardin, said she understands the thinking behind the new requirement.
"It is important, because if you look at all the things happening in the world today, everything is shaped by things that have happened in the past," she said.
Wortham looks at history as a never-ending story, and for her students, the new requirement represents a new chapter. Kentucky lawmakers mandated the change in 2017 legislative session.
"It's the stuff you learned over the years," Central Hardin High School junior Caden Wilson said. "You should know most of it."
Many adults may remember learning the "50 Nifty United States" song or the Schoolhouse Rock version of "I'm Just A Bill." But can most of us name the original 13 colonies? Apparently not.
We polled the public on the citizenship test. To see their answers click here.
Central Hardin students are ahead of the curve on the new mandate. Wortham said all the juniors in the school already passed the citizenship test, one less graduation requirement for them to worry about come graduation next year.
"Not all of it is common knowledge," Central Hard High School junior Skyler Lucas explained. "You have to know more about the government than what you learned."
A student can take the exam as many times as needed. It has 100 questions, and 60 percent is a passing grade. Perhaps history and civics goes along with calculus and chemistry as subjects most of us forget after high school.
To take the online version of the U.S. Citizenship test for yourself, click here.
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