Generation Citizen’s Juanita Montes de Oca, Manager of National Program and Curriculum Development, and Sarah Andes, Director of Programming, with Cooper’s Poynt School teacher Erin Garrity and U.S. Wiggins College Preparatory LAB Family School teacher, Larry Livingston, in Camden, NJ.
Generation Citizen Launches New Action Civics Programming in
San Diego, CA and Camden, NJ
New Remote Program Model Allows GC to Significantly Reach More Schools & Students
Generation Citizen (GC) is excited to announce the successful launch of programming in San Diego, CA and Camden, NJ. GC completed teacher trainings in both sites on Tuesday, December 5th, and is looking forward to beginning work with students in the upcoming weeks. This is the first time in GC’s history that the organization will be working with schools without offices on the ground. This new remote teacher-led model will allow the organization to significantly increase the number of students each year that GC will be able to reach.
The San Diego and Camden remote programs will begin with a total of 14 participating classrooms and 7 teachers. Approximately 350 students will receive Action Civics this academic year through this new model. The successful launch of the program is a signifier to the steady growth of Generation Citizen. Over the past years, GC has transformed from a dorm-room idea into a robust national organization, serving more than 40,000 middle and high school students in six states to date. The rollout of remote programming is also a central programmatic initiative of GC’s new strategic plan which outlines a path to organizational scale with the aim of ultimately bringing Action Civics education to every student in the U.S.
We are grateful to have strong partnerships in both school districts, and hope to increase programming in the years to come. Our participating teachers share;
“As I have continued to absorb and digest the vision and content of Generation Citizen, I am inspired and eager to begin this journey with my students. I think it will be a powerful, meaningful, and authentic learning experience for us all. Thank you for the tools and resources and I look forward to our work together next semester.” Lacey Dodd, Hoover High School, San Diego, CA
“In an age where civic engagement makes social and political change happen, Generation Citizen discovers students’ interests, passions and intellect and uses them to be drivers of local change. The professional development crystallized what this looks like at a school level and sets clear parameters and objectives for both teachers and students.” Vincent Gravina, M.Ed, Camden City School District, Camden NJ
Over the next year, students in San Diego and Camden will engage in Action Civics by selecting issues they care about in their communities, and taking concrete action. Central to the philosophy of Action Civics is the tenet that the best way for students to grow into informed and active citizens is not just by learning about civic structures and processes, but by engaging politically within their local communities.
GC’s historic model has been to partner trained college volunteers, called Democracy Coaches, with teachers to implement the program. San Diego and Camden will both participate in our new teacher-led model, in which educators will administer the course without the aid of the college volunteer. The remote teacher-led approach will ensure that all students receive a high quality of program and that teachers will receive the resources they need to support students’ advocacy projects in the classroom in a nonpartisan and effective way.
We are tremendously excited about the opportunity to have an even greater impact on youth political engagement in our democracy by delivering Action Civics education in new regions and with our new partners.