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Bill of Rights Institute and iCivics Announce Latest Round of Winners in Civic Star Challenge

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Educators have been awarded $5,000 each for connecting themes from the country’s founding ideals to contemporary civic learning during America’s 250th.

WASHINGTON, DC [October 6, 2026] – The Bill of Rights Institute and iCivics have named the latest winners of the Civic Star Challenge contest, a nationwide initiative that recognizes educators who bring the themes from the Declaration of Independence and civic learning into their classrooms.

The Civic Star Challenge helps teachers connect America’s founding principles to students’ lives through three focus areas: civic action, media literacy, and debate and dialogue. Educators can use free resources from iCivics and the Bill of Rights Institute, other teaching materials, or lessons they have developed themselves. To enter, teachers submit a brief narrative describing their students’ learning or outcomes from a related classroom lesson or activity.

Initially designed to run through July 4, 2026, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Challenge has been extended through December 15, 2026, with three additional contest periods and $50,000 in prizes. 

Each period awards $5,000 to one educator in each grade band— K–5, 6–8, and 9–12—for nine winners overall. Four additional honorable mentions of $1,250 each will be awarded across the Challenge. The contest periods run August 15–September 30, October 1–31, and November 1–December 15. 

Educators may enter once per period at civicstarchallenge.org.

The most recent winners are:

  • Dina Siembak, Schwarzkopf Elementary School, Lutz, FL
  • Payton Ashby, South Sevier Middle School, Monroe, UT
  • Juan Moguel, Warren Early College High School, Warrenton, NC
  • Patrick Walters, Joaquin Miller Middle School, San Jose, CA (Honorable Mention)

“The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is an opportunity to help students connect this founding document and its fundamental ideas to their own lives and communities today,” iCivics CEO Louise Dubé said. “By extending the Civic Star Challenge, we’re recognizing the essential work educators do each day to keep civic learning at the center of their classrooms.”

“Through the Civic Star Challenge, teachers are showing their students what the principles of the Declaration of Independence requires of each generation,” Bill of Rights Institute President and CEO David Bobb said. “This initiative celebrates those teachers who are helping young people not only study these principles, but develop the knowledge, judgement, and civic habits to live by them and make a real difference for their fellow citizens.”

The Civic Star Challenge is made possible through generous support from Griffin Catalyst, the civic engagement initiative of Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, The James Irvine Foundation, The Stand Together Trust, and The Pedersen Foundation.

ABOUT iCIVICS
Founded in 2009 by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civic learning by providing educators and students with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to embrace and engage in our civic life together. iCivics empowers educators and leads the movement to make civic education a nationwide priority so all young people have the confidence to shape the world around them and believe in our country’s future. To learn more, visit icivics.org.

ABOUT BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE
The Bill of Rights Institute is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit that works with teachers and students to strengthen history and civic education. Through classroom resources, professional learning, student programs, and educational experiences, BRI helps young people develop the knowledge, judgment, and civic virtues needed for self-government. To learn more, visit mybri.org.

ABOUT GRIFFIN CATALYST
Griffin Catalyst is the civic engagement initiative of Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, encompassing his philanthropic and community impact efforts. Tackling the world’s greatest challenges in innovative, action-oriented, and evidence-driven ways, Griffin Catalyst is dedicated to expanding opportunity and improving lives across six areas of focus: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation, and Communities. For more information, visit griffincatalyst.org.

ABOUT THE JAMES IRVINE FOUNDATION
The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California. The Foundation’s current focus is a California where all low-income workers have the power to advance economically. Since 1937 the Foundation has provided more than $2.92 billion in grants to organizations throughout California. The Foundation ended 2025 with $3.6 billion in assets and provided $160.2 million in grants. For more, please visit irvine.org. 

Meg Johnson

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Meg Johnson is an education executive and operations leader with more than 25 years of experience helping organizations turn ambitious ideas into strategies, systems, and teams that deliver impact for students.

Before joining iCivics, Meg served as Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Education Market Dynamics, where she helped build the organization and its national work using data and transparency to improve the K–12 curriculum market. Previously, she held senior leadership roles at Pearson Education spanning strategy, product, technology, sales, and operations. Across her career, Meg has been drawn to complex organizations and moments of growth and change, connecting people, priorities, and systems to help good ideas become executable ones.

Her commitment to civic engagement extends well beyond her professional life. Meg actively supports her local performing arts center, volunteers to register voters and is the proud daughter of a local elected official. She is an enthusiastic reader, oyster shucker and pub trivia nerd. A mom of two, she lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Chris.

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iCivics launches Rule Play, a new game that brings the rule of law to life

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Created in partnership with More Perfect, this interactive game helps middle and high school students navigate the complexities and competing values of the rule of law.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Aug. 10, 2026 – iCivics has launched Rule Play, a new interactive game that helps middle and high school students explore how the rule of law shapes everyday life. 

Created through a partnership with More Perfect, this free game helps educators use relatable scenarios – such as dress codes in schools – that invite students to confront difficult choices, identify conflicting values, and discover how exactly they think about the rule of law. 

The rule of law ensures that laws govern society equally and clearly, maintaining individual liberty and limiting the power of both those who govern and those who are governed. Educators need ways to help students examine democratic institutions and practices – their strengths and shortcomings – without classroom discussions becoming politically charged. Rule Play provides a neutral, constructive framework for exploring these questions, giving teachers a safe way to introduce nuance, encourage healthy debate, and help students understand the rule of law as an essential, but continually aspirational, democratic ideal.

Student input shaped Rule Play from its earliest stages. After iCivics consulted teachers about the challenges of teaching the rule of law, the team at iCivics presented initial concepts to a group of iCivics Student Fellows. The students emphasized that the game’s stories needed to reflect experiences relevant to their daily lives, such as driving, school rules, and curfews. They later playtested the developing game and provided feedback that influenced everything from the scenarios and on-screen choice mechanics to the game’s title.

“We designed Rule Play in collaboration with both students and educators because our users are the best judges of what is relevant to their lives,” iCivics CEO Louise Dubé said. “We are thrilled with the result. Rule Play makes the importance and goals of the rule of law tangible to learners.”

Designed to be completed in approximately 15 minutes, Rule Play places students in relatable rule-of-law scenarios, including the inconsistent enforcement of a school dress code and the unequal application of a youth curfew. 

After reading each scenario, players choose how to respond by swiping left, right, or down. There is no obviously right or wrong answer; instead, each choice reflects one or more of five equally important factors: Equality of Law, Clear and Accessible Laws, Judicial Independence, Fair Legal Processes, and Limited and Accountable Government. At the end, players receive a personalized profile showing which factors they gravitated toward most and watch a short explainer video on that factor. Students can play again to see how different choices produce different outcomes.

“A democracy is only as strong as the citizens who understand it,” said John Bridgeland, Founder and CEO of More Perfect. “Rule Play helps students see the rule of law not as an abstraction but as something that shapes their daily lives and depends on their participation. That is the kind of civic learning our country needs right now and that we are proud to support.”

Rule Play is shorter and more streamlined than a traditional iCivics game but maintains the same focus on meaningful choices and clearly defined learning objectives. It helps students understand how the rule of law limits power, protects individual rights, preserves the common good, and affects everyday life. By asking students to weigh imperfect options rather than search for a single correct answer, the game creates space for deeper engagement with the gray areas that make the rule of law both challenging and consequential.

The complete experience includes individual videos about each rule-of-law factor, a five-minute video covering all five factors, and a streamlined two-page Teacher Guide featuring additional real-world scenarios and ready-to-use discussion questions. Teachers can use the game as a bell-ringer, transition activity, introduction to a new unit, or starting point for a broader classroom discussion.

Rule Play is available at iCivics.org/rule-play.

Judy Wurtzel

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Judy Wurtzel supports Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies’ efforts to improve K-12 education across the U.S., with a focus on enabling conditions for engaging and affirming literacy instruction, including instructional materials, policy, and research.

Judy has experience in government, philanthropy, associations and nonprofits. Prior to joining the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Judy was a Senior Advisor to the Noyce Foundation. Previously, Judy served in the U.S. Department of Education under Secretary Duncan as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development and as the founding Director for Technical Assistance and Policy in the Department’s new Implementation Support Unit. She was also a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Education under Secretary Riley. Judy was also Co-Director of the Aspen Institute Program on Education and Society and served as Executive Director of the Learning First Alliance, a permanent partnership of over a dozen national education associations.

Judy has authored or co-authored numerous reports and studies on education improvement and co-edited Teaching Talent: A Visionary Framework for Human Capital in Education. She currently sits on the boards of the Center for Assessment and Open Up Resources. Past board memberships and advisory boards include Achievement Network, English Learner Successful Forum, UnboundEd, Urban Teachers Center and Zearn. Judy started her career in education by teaching English as a foreign language in Morocco. She attended Yale College and earned a law degree from NYU Law School.

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Do I Have a Right? Wins 2026 GEE! Award

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iCivics’ classic constitutional law game Do I Have A Right? won the GEE! Learning Game Award for Best Formal Learning Game. The award, which was announced at the annual Play Make Learn Conference on July 10, honors the best educational games. 

Named after the innovator in educational games, James Paul Gee, award judges are asked to evaluate games on questions such as “Does it Empower Learners? Does it create Problems Worth Solving? Does it create Deep Understanding? Does it work smoothly? And is it visually interesting?

Do I Have a Right? challenges players to run their own law firm. Clients come to the firm with various legal complaints, and players must review their situations to decide two major things: Does the client actually have a constitutional right that was violated? Which lawyer in the firm is specialized in the specific amendment needed to win the case?

One GEE! Award judge said that Do I Have a Right? is a “Really outstanding game on a multitude of important topics,” adding that “I was particularly pleased with all of the red herrings thrown in about things that aren’t rights. I could definitely see classroom discussions stemming from this.” 

iCivics games have won multiple James Paul Gee Learning Game Awards (GEE! Awards). Last year,  Investigation Declaration won the Formal Learning, and People’s Pie took home a GEE! Award in 2023.

Blake pulls different historical perspectives to teach students about hope

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My middle school students understand that I have high expectations and that I’ll show up consistently and authentically—whether we’re working together in class or running into each other at church. And even though they yearn for independence, I know they also crave that relationship. It’s a priority for me too. Trust is key to ensuring my classroom is a place where they can feel safe honing their ideas and trying out new ones. That’s what civics—and the Civic Star Challenge—is all about, especially as we near the country’s 250th birthday.

This is a moment to consider the ways we’re living up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and our other founding documents. That’s what two great American writers were doing in 1852. It’s the year Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Frederick Douglass delivered his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” These were two people with starkly different backgrounds, but who shared a faith in their nation’s potential.

Drawing on a lesson from the Four Question Method, my 8th grade US history class analyzed key passages from each text.

Students were especially struck by what pushed Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. After losing her young son to cholera, she reflected on the grief enslaved mothers experienced when their children were taken from them.

We discussed Stowe’s admission that she had once avoided thinking deeply about slavery because it felt too painful to confront. By the end of the novel, she directly challenges readers to act against the Fugitive Slave Act, appealing to them as parents and Christians.

It’s as if she’s looking her readers directly in the eye.

That was what Douglass was doing as he delivered his landmark speech to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. He is blistering in his critique of the July 4th holiday, calling it “a sham,” its “shouts of liberty and equality” nothing but “hollow mockery.” But what surprised students most was how the speech ended.

“I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. No abuse, no outrage … can now hide itself from the all-pervading light.”

My students immediately recognized that Douglass was opening himself up to great personal risk by speaking out, and they marveled at his decision to use his public platform in this way. We also discussed how Douglass was able to criticize his country, while loving it ardently. This ability to consider two competing truths simultaneously—with rigor and respect—is one of the most valuable lessons civics can offer us.

Ultimately, my goal is to help my students notice that both Stowe and Douglas are profoundly hopeful. They refused to turn away from the darkness of their time and in facing it, helped push our country forward. To me, hope is a theme that is woven throughout our nation’s story. Even – or perhaps especially—when it is difficult to see, these great American voices remind us and future generations it’s worth declaring.

About Blake

  • Teaching experience: 7+ years in education 
  • Currently: 8th grade US History

Former Exploros Educator Spotlight Teacher recognized for innovative teaching practices and getting students to think critically through storytelling, Blake was one of a handful of beta-testers piloting Four Question Method’s (4QM) new 8th grade US History curriculum and is passionate about helping students think critically, engage in civil discourse, and build the skills necessary to navigate with success an ever-changing and fast-paced world.

New Research: Americans Want Civic Education. Let’s Give It to Them.

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The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) just released its 2026 Civic Values Survey, which shows continuing sky-high levels of public support for civic education:

  • 83% say all students should be required to study American history; and,
  • 75% say high schoolers should study the Declaration of Independence this anniversary year; 

This is good news, but it comes alongside some cautionary data as well. More than four in ten adults said they would need to look up the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights to remember them, and 61% believe children today get a worse education than they did. And interestingly, a majority (52%) said families, not schools, should take primary responsibility for teaching what America stands for. 

The findings point to the polarization and low trust in institutions that continue to bedevil our nation, but the difference today is that momentum for strengthening civic learning is real.

Following long-term advocacy from many in our community, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) moved the voluntary state-level National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics assessment for 8th graders up to 2028 and, for the first time, results will be disaggregated by state. Simultaneously, NAGB will develop a new framework aligned with the needs of our digital democracy for the NAEP Civics assessment, with scheduled deployment in 2032. 

Civic seals, credentials affixed to a high school diploma certifying demonstrated civic knowledge and skill, have now been adopted in 19 states spanning the political spectrum, reaching nearly half of America’s schoolchildren. In recent months, civic seals legislation passed in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, and New Hampshire.

This momentum comes at a time when emerging technology is forcing us to rethink the very foundations of educating America’s young people. On the doorstep of America’s 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity to return civics to a central place in our education system, just as the founding generation intended, by advocating for participation in NAEP Civics and adoption of civic seals across all 50 states.

One point in the survey that we did find heartening was that 62 percent of those surveyed said that democracy needs to be taught because it is not implicitly learned. This is one of the principles upon which iCivics was created, as our  founder, the late Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, used as her rallying cry for civic education: “The practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned anew by each generation of citizens.”

Nicole teaches American history and experiences through a field trip

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In my classes, I strive to create an interconnected narrative, each topic building upon the next. 

We start by analyzing the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble. The language and ideas in these documents become the golden thread that pulls us through the school year – and through America’s story.

I ask my students to be part of that story.

The Civic Star Challenge inspired me to develop a lesson in which students apply the concepts in the Declaration to the push/pull factors around immigration – specifically, the experience of immigrants on Angel Island. Unlike Ellis Island, Angel Island was often used to restrict immigration, especially from Asia, and to enforce laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Many people who arrived there faced long detentions, harsh questioning, discrimination, and dehumanizing treatment. I wanted students to consider: if they were pulled to this country for a better life, what would they feel if their first encounter with America was such blatant mistreatment? 

We stepped into that experience through a virtual field trip to the Angel Island Immigration Station (which we accessed through the California State Parks’ PORTS program). Our ranger guide brilliantly led us through the museum, really listening to the students along the way. We saw the rooms where immigrants slept and spotted Chinese poetry carved into the walls – a small act of resistance. 

Every single class period, students asked “why would the immigrants still choose to come?” They were learning that the promise of American ideals were strong enough for immigrants to take incredible risks. At the same time, they were able to reflect upon the historical forces that would degrade these ideals and imagine how it would feel to be caught up in their negation. After the visit, some students wrote about the shock immigrants must have felt when, at the end of the long journey in search of a better life, they were met with invasive interrogations, onerous paperwork, and very little privacy. One student drew the image of money locked behind a barbed-wire gate, to show how immigrants discovered that the dream of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” wasn’t free.

This is a complicated concept for students in middle school, but I was thrilled to watch them considering it with nuance and depth. They recognized that while the discrimination immigrants faced challenged the idealism they might have had when they arrived, it may have also made them even more determined to succeed here. Many of my students have immigration stories in their own families, so this lesson felt especially personal. But even for students without that direct connection, Angel Island helped them see a larger civic truth: American ideals matter most when we ask who has been allowed to claim them, and who has had to fight for them.

About Nicole

  • Teaching experience: 24 years 
  • Currently teaching: 8th grade social studies

Nicole is a National Board Certified teacher whose work focuses on inspiring students to love history and civics. She also helps lead civic and sustainability initiatives across her campus.

Civics isn’t a given, and other exciting takeaways from our research

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Americans have always looked to schools to prepare young people for their roles as citizens in our constitutional democracy, and today, 92% of Americans agree that civic education is critical to the country’s success. In other words, even though we struggle to agree on basic facts, we strongly agree that civic education matters—and that K–12 schools are where it should be taught. 

But with only five states requiring a middle school civics course and 14 states requiring no civics courses at all, where is this civic education supposed to happen? I asked the guy sitting next to me on the plane on my way home from a civic education symposium in Philadelphia. His cautious response, to my delight and his relief: “In social studies classrooms?”

Correct. Since 1918, K–12 instruction in history, civics, government, geography, economics, and other liberal arts has been encapsulated under the umbrella of “social studies.” 

In the ring of social studies instruction in the United States, history is the undisputed heavyweight. Students receive far more instruction in history than in civics, government, economics, or geography—likely to the tune of 50% or more of their total instructional time.

At the same time, society expects schools to foster “civic dispositions,” the habits and hearts of active citizens. Most people assume this happens naturally within those social studies blocks. However, the data tell a different story.

History classes do not, in and of themselves, instill civic dispositions.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a new evaluation by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) of the iCivics Through Inquiry curriculum offers a reality check. It proves that if we want engaged citizens, we have to stop relying on history to do the work of civics by accident.

Conducted during the 2024–2025 school year across three diverse urban districts, the evaluation found that when history is taught with an intentional civic lens, students changed their behavior. Compared to their peers, students in the iCivics program were:

  • Significantly more likely to report interest in politics and current events.
  • Significantly more likely to report checking the news multiple times a day.
  • Substantially more likely to talk about politics and current events with friends, family, teachers, or other adults at school.
  • Noticeably more likely to report valuing their education in U.S. History. 

The biggest takeaway? Civic engagement isn’t a byproduct of history instruction; it’s a design choice.

The Through Inquiry curriculum intentionally weaves primary source analysis and civic identity into the historical arc. We can’t expect kids to become responsible citizens simply by sitting in a history classroom for 180 days; we have to integrate a civic ethos that is supported by the instructional activities we know to cultivate civic outcomes. 

A curriculum is only as good as the person standing at the front of the room. The study found that 93% of teachers intend to continue using iCivics materials. Moreover, coaching and professional learning were the most critical factors for success.

This couldn’t come at a more important time, because a systemic shift for civics is on the horizon. The National Assessment Governing Board has announced that it will move the voluntary state-level NAEP civics assessment for eighth graders up to 2028, assess twelfth graders for the first time since 2010, and, crucially, report results disaggregated by state. If all 50 states adopt the standards, as we are hopeful they will, a wave of change is about to occur, leading to students having stronger civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes when they graduate from high school. 

These are developments that matter more for America’s 250th and our future than any of the pomp, circumstance, or fireworks that we will nonetheless enjoy on the Fourth of July.

Kimberly bridges history and community to teach the importance of civic engagement

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Teaching civics at a career technical school is sometimes an exercise in translation. Wayne County Schools Career Center hosts 26 programs for high school juniors and seniors; from animal science to culinary arts to sports medicine, it really runs the gamut. My students are sometimes skeptical that knowing about government will help them excel in their trades. I like to say, “You may not need the Pythagorean theorem every day, but you do need to know your constitutional rights! You need to know what the law is!” And it’s my mission to show them why.

I do that by bringing the trades into my lessons. With criminal justice students, we connect the Bill of Rights to the work they hope to do. With nursing students, we talk about Medicare, Medicaid, and the policies that shape patient care. With students in service fields, we talk about the rules, rights, and responsibilities that affect the people they will serve. And we talk about how WCSCC, itself, resembles our country in its earliest years: here, students from a dozen other schools come together in pursuit of a common goal.

One way I build that bridge is by helping students see civics in the places they already know.

Sometimes it’s helpful to see the connections on paper—specifically, on maps of our region. As part of the Civic Star Challenge, I built a series of classes based on the Northwest Ordinance and Ohio’s path to statehood. Students aren’t used to using physical maps these days – they look on their phones for directions. So it was a bit of a novelty when we broke out maps of Wayne County and I asked them to start plotting coordinates. They were struck by the tidy grid of our 16 townships, each 6 by 6 miles. That framework is lasting evidence of the Land Ordinance of 1785. 

I pointed out that Section 16 of each of these townships was reserved for public education. Why? Because the founders understood that if people are going to live in a republic of self-government, it would be vitally important that they have access to education. And so, we can connect the Northwest Ordinance to the free public education enshrined in the Ohio Constitution.

I also explained that the way each township is zoned determines whether you live next to a farm, a store, a factory, or a new housing development. And of course, each township has a trustee. When my students turn 18, they will not just vote for president. They will vote for local leaders who make decisions that shape the roads, land, services, and neighborhoods around them.

I see it as a calling to produce educated citizens. Although I couldn’t serve in the military like my siblings, teaching is a way I can fulfill my patriotic duty and keep our nation thriving for generations. If I can make the US Constitution feel tangible and alive to my students, they’ll be more likely to defend and preserve it. From time to time, I’ll get a letter or a message from a former student who is serving overseas and I’m reminded that civic education is not abstract. They understand that the Constitution is not just something we study. It is something people serve, protect, and carry with them. That makes me incredibly proud. That is what I want for all of my students, whether they become nurses, mechanics, chefs, public servants, business owners, or members of the military. I want them to see that civics is not separate from their lives. It is part of the communities they will work in, vote in, serve in, and help shape.

About Kimberly

  • Teaching experience: 31+ years in Social Studies Education
  • Currently teaching: American Government and CCP Political Science, Adjunct Professor

Kimberly Huffman is dedicated to helping young people enhance their constitutional knowledge and empower their political efficacy. Her teaching and leadership are shaped by deep commitments to promoting and encouraging democratic engagement. Through her service on NCSS and national educator networks, she hopes to elevate the importance of civic education across the country.