The State of Civic Education: Teaching the Citizens of Tomorrow
The emPower Plant
Created by the Heartland Foundation and a region-wide task force in St. Joseph, Missouri, the emPower Plant is a hands-on, experiential learning program designed to teach students ages 12-15 the importance of being involved citizens. Students from schools in the St. Joseph, Missouri area combine a civic engagement classroom curriculum with travel to the emPower Plant test lab to engage in a mock civic activity.
A group of seventh-graders were recently given the task of debating whether or not vending machines should be removed from the city's schools. They had four hours at the test lab to form an opinion on the topic, conduct research to back up their opinion and put together a presentation for a mock city council. When the mock city council arrived (local community volunteers who took on varied personality types, from the know-it-all to the politician to the eternal optimist), the students had to figure out how to get past the personalities and think on their feet to get their message heard. The emPower Plant classroom materials also engage students in working on real community service projects and making a difference in their communities.
The project grew out of soul-searching by the Heartland Foundation, a local community hospital foundation, which changed its focus from medical projects to community health in the early 1990s. "We realized that our mission was not so much about providing medical care but rather raising education levels and getting people fully engaged in their communities to create a better quality of life, " says Judy Sabbert-Muck, chief operating officer of the Heartland Foundation. "From the beginning, we knew we needed to involve young people in the process so they can see they can have a role in shaping their community and making a difference." The emPower Plant program now has the capacity to reach 15,000 students each year.
Sojourn to the Past
Jeff Steinberg, a high school history teacher in San Bruno, California, knew there had to be a better way to engage students in the lessons of history. So in 1999, he created the first of many 10-day "field trips" to the South for students to see the sights and meet with participants of the Civil Rights Movement.
On each journey, entitled "Sojourn to the Past," 70 to 100 students, teachers and staff from California, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts visit Atlanta, Tuskegee, Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Little Rock and Memphis. They engage in conversation with Martin Luther King III, who talks about the need to carry on his father's message. They visit Congressman John Lewis, who tells about getting beaten by state troopers as he began the voting rights march in Selma. In Hattiesburg, the school group visits the grave of Vernon Dahmer and meets his family members. They learn how he died in 1966 when his home was firebombed because he was working to get African American citizens registered to vote. Students read background material about the civil rights movement, do community service in their own communities and reflect upon their experience.
Since the first trip in 1999, Steinberg now devotes himself full-time to "Sojourn to the Past" and making it available to as many students as possible. He has organized 48 trips and seen 4,700 students transformed by the journey.
"This is a life-changing experience for high school students. They learn first-hand what it means to put yourself on the line for what you believe in," says Steinberg. "This journey teaches our youth the importance of not becoming silent witnesses to cruelty, inequality and injustice. Students discover the power in nonviolence and public activism. They learn the power of voting and gain essential knowledge to become the next generation of leaders."
