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Month: April 2024

iCivics and the White House Historical Association Launch “Brief the Chief,” a New Digital Game Showing Students How Presidents Throughout History Relied on Multiple Perspectives to Make Difficult Choices

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

WASHINGTON, DC — April 29, 2024 — iCivics, the nation’s leading civic education nonprofit, and the White House Historical Association today launched Brief the Chief, a new digital game that teaches students how the President of the United States makes difficult governing decisions, providing insight into how presidents rely on an array of advisors to make tough judgment calls.

Brief the Chief also gives students an inside look into the historic White House offices of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Lyndon B. Johnson as they navigated some of the most pivotal moments of their presidencies.

The game positions students as trusted advisors to the president, challenging them to consult with a variety of sources and confidants within the White House and use evidence-based reasoning to give counsel on a number of different situations. Students advise Jefferson as he determines whether he should continue trade with independent Haiti in 1804 amid tensions with France; Lincoln as he contemplates the Emancipation Proclamation; and Johnson as he decides if he should run for another term as president.

Along the way, students have conversations with likely sources such as secretaries of state, military advisors, and foreign diplomats. They also speak with historical figures such as civil rights leader Amelia Boynton, First Lady Mary Lincoln’s dressmaker Elizabeth Keckly, the Johnsons’ personal cook Zephyr Wright, and Haitian leader Jean Jacques Dessalines. In this way, the game gives students the opportunity to learn from those with unique perspectives and from underrepresented communities throughout history. Students practice listening and contextualizing facts and opinions.

Brief the Chief continues a growing partnership between iCivics and the Association. In 2023, iCivics and the Association released a Spanish-language version of Executive Command, one of iCivics’ most popular games that teaches students how the Executive Branch functions.

“We’re incredibly proud and honored to partner with the White House Historical Association,” iCivics Chief Executive Officer Lousie Dubé said. “Brief the Chief teaches young people a skill that is increasingly more important: how to engage with people from different perspectives, gather important insights, and make evidence-based decisions.”

Brief the Chief leverages the strengths of both iCivics and the Association. Up to 145,000 teachers rely on iCivics resources each year to help some 9 million students learn foundational civic knowledge and the skills needed to become engaged citizens. A team of three Association educators and three Association historians with advanced degrees in public history provided insight into the presidents and their respective administrations. Content experts and educators from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the LBJ Presidential Library, and George Washington University provided insights on the history presented throughout the game as well.

“Education is critical to the Association’s mission and investment in civics is vital as the next generation is taught the awesome responsibilities of citizenship and considering different perspectives,” said Stewart McLaurin, President of The White House Historical Association. “We are excited to launch this new tool to help students understand the past as an essential key to understanding who we are today.”

The game presents students with the opportunity to investigate two key decisions from each of the presidencies of Jefferson, Lincoln, and Johnson, and provides educators with incredible flexibility to teach across U.S. History. With nearly 30 characters available to interview, students can play the game multiple times and learn new facts and perspectives with each gameplay.

The game can be used to teach different geographies, content, civics and historical timelines, allowing flexibility for teachers to use it in a variety of different classroom applications. And its content can be tied to current events.

Brief the Chief includes English Language Learner support and is available in Spanish.

Amanda Donley

Posted on by icivics

On Civic Education and the iCivics Youth Fellowship

I was fortunate to get one of the best civic educations possible when it comes to the iCivics Youth Fellowship and my 8th grade “We the People” class. As a result, I know my constitutional rights and I feel very prepared to vote and otherwise engage. 

But there were 200 other students in my grade level who opted out of civics, and I’m not sure a lot of my peers understand much about what is going on in government, how they are affected by it, and how they can affect it in return.

As part of the iCivics fellowship, I interviewed two groups of students—those who got the same classes I did those who did not.. The first group gave long, elaborate answers and there was open communication between the students. But when I interviewed kids who did not get this form of civic education, they gave one- or two- word answers, didn’t seem to really be familiar with the word “civics” or what it entailed, and didn’t really talk to each other. This exercise really put into perspective how even one single class can alter a person completely.

On the State of the Nation

It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when members of opposing political parties could “agree to disagree”—or even come together on certain issues. Today, it seems our elected officials are punished for working with members of another party, yet that’s the very foundation of the U.S. Constitution. As someone who is civically engaged, such actions don’t feel like serving the community—they feel antithetical to what they teach us in civics class.

When I think about what our nation could be, the word that springs to mind is “open.” Open to differences of opinion—not always having to be right. More open to listening to each other, and not always yelling.

On iCivics

With iCivics, it’s not just about supporting a program or a website. but actively supporting the next generation of this country. What iCivics does is amazing: it helps young people find the answers to questions they’re too afraid to ask. If “the next generation will “fix it,” then we need tools, knowledge, and support systems. We need the space to meet up a few times before figuring it all out and supporting programs that provide just this—a space to try, and mess up, and try again, and succeed—it fosters a true interest in our country.It’s about supporting an entire generation that can finally find its voice, and that will want to create a better world for all.

Equipping Civics Educators to Support Military-Connected Students

Posted on by [email protected]

April is the Month of the Military Child. To honor our service members and their children, the iCivics: Civics, Service, and Leadership Program hosted an educator immersion day on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL in partnership with Blue Star Families and Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS).

MacDill Air Force Base is home to over 6,000 people, with an additional 20,000 coming to work on the base each day. The base is a world unto its own, but most military children attend school in the community through HCPS. Next week, MacDill will deploy about 200 service members, one of the largest deployments in recent years. This means a number of students will show up for school coping with that reality. The immersion day was an opportunity for iCSL educators to learn about the unique strengths and challenges our military-connected students and families face, so they might better support them in school.

Teachers started the day with a panel discussion between military parents and school district staff. One parent shared that by the time her son was ready to graduate high school, they had moved 9 times. These transitions are one of the biggest challenges military-connected students face. Moving schools means integrating into a new school culture. It means that different state standards and requirements may delay academic progress. It means, as one parent shared, that key pieces to a child’s education–like learning the branches of government–can fall through the cracks. A parent’s deployment is equally challenging. Another panelist shared, “Deployment affects the whole family.” “Our children are deploying as well.”

After the panel, our educators met Colonel Bingham, the base commander. They met Champa Boom, the base mascot. They toured the base. They talked with a young pilot and her crew. They walked the flight line and climbed into the cockpit of a KC-137. They learned that our military community, and the base itself, is a place full of opportunities for service members, civilians, and students. They gathered new resources and ideas for how to support military students when they return back to their school communities. We all learned that our military families, including the little ones, know and embody civic values and civic responsibility.

The goal of the day was to foster awareness across our military and school communities. Everyone left empowered and excited to keep building connections and opportunities on behalf of our students and civics education. It was a mission well accomplished!

Written by Frank Anderson

Frank Anderson is the director of special projects at iCivics and the program director for the Civics, Service, and Leadership program. Frank works with educators from across the country to connect them to civics education resources and to help students build a service mindset and leadership skills within the classroom. Before iCivics, Frank taught in alternative education in Baltimore and managed education programming for students involved with the juvenile justice system.

The Civics, Service, and Leadership (iCSL) program aims to prepare students exploring careers in military and public service with high-quality civic learning experiences that build critical thinking, media literacy, civility, civic knowledge and participation, and service. iCSL is sponsored by DoDSTEM, the National Defense Education Program.