Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to empower students through civics education, specifically programs like the Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship.  The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Amber Coleman-Mortley of Washington, D.C.

In this episode we discuss:

•  Amber’s many hats : Director of Social Engagement at iCivics, podcaster with Lets K-12 Better, momblogger at MomOfAllCapes (and parent to some amazing kids!)

• The origins of the Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship

• The #CivicsForUS social media campaign

• What students want to know:

  • What “civics” actually is

  • Why haven’t I been taught some important skills?

  • How do I engage at the local level?

  • What is the relationship between politics and civics?

  • How can I have a conversation with someone I don’t agree with?

• The value of turning the spotlight onto student opinions

“It’s all about how you as the adult facilitate the space and the conditions so that students’ voices can thrive in a way that is productive for everyone”

•  Finding spaces in the day to incorporate student voices and experiences in our curriculum

“How do we go out and leverage the experiences and the privileges that we have so that we can bring other people along?”

•  Building a ‘tapestry’ of student thoughts and opinions

• Paying students to participate in the project

• The type of student the Fellowship is looking for: low-income students, students of color, or students in rural communities

• What students found to be valuable about the program

• Ways that students are able to share their civics story

• What Amber would do with unlimited money, unlimited money, and unlimited control

“I think a lot of adults see student civic engagement as everyone going out to protest.  That’s not it.  There’s a diversity of civic experiences that are available to each and every one of us.”

• The importance of having hands-on civics learning

 “We practice driving before we give kids a driver’s license… but we don’t practice what it’s like to be a good citizen. We assume that people know what that is and what that means”

•  How teachers can nominate or students can apply to be a Equity in Civics Youth Fellow (applications due on September 20 for the 2020-21 cohort)

 “We have to, as adults, begin to relinquish the future to the next generation… we have to be okay with equipping them with the problem solving skills to fix so many of the problems that our society is experiencing right now. This generation of students is excited to get their hands dirty!”

Social media links:

• On Twitter you can follow Amber, iCivics, and the Fellowship

• You can also follow Amber on Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr