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30 Students from Across the Country Join iCivics Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship

Posted on by icivics

Now in its third year, national youth fellowship has engaged students from across the country to build civic leadership skills and explore how civic education can become more relevant to all youth in the United States

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Thirty talented high school students from across the country recently formed the newest cohort of the iCivics Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship (ECYF). The fellows are selected on a competitive basis and must be nominated by a teacher to be considered. 

Now in its third year, the program works with students to research and explore how civic education can become more equitable for all students. Fellows utilize their own lived experiences to become ambassadors for better civic education and to shed light on how civic education can include student voices from every background. 

The program, which is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is part of a broader initiative to explore equity in civic education. Throughout the course of the 2021-22 school year, fellows will engage virtually in group discussions with their peers, as well as in workshops and lectures with experts in the field and in projects designed to strengthen listening and collaborative skills—all centered around ensuring that civic education is available and relevant to all students in the United States. 

“I am very excited for the ways in which this amazing group of students will lend their unique voices to the conversation surrounding equitable civic education through this Fellowship,” iCivics Youth Fellowship Community Lead Michael Reyes said. “They will all be learning from each other and engaging their ideas through various activities throughout the year. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing the ways these Fellows will take their experiences into lifelong civic engagement.”

iCivics is proud to announce this year’s Equity in Civics Youth Fellows:

  • Joshua Adegoke, 11th Grader, Challenge Early College High School, Texas
  • Joshua Anderson, 10th Grader, Leominster Center for Excellence, Massachusetts
  • Marley Best, 12th Grader, Redbank Valley High School, Pennsylvania
  • Georgia Bullard, 10th Grader, Sequim High School, Washington
  • Jasper Chavarria, 10th Grader, Junction City High School, Kansas
  • Elena Correa, 11th Grader, Central High School, Nebraska
  • Jemieka Findlay, 12th Grader, Bronx Collaborative High School, New York
  • Alani Sanchez-Flores, 11th Grader, Normal West Community High School, Illinois
  • Tasneem Ghadiali, 10th Grader, Lexington High School, Massachusetts
  • Stella Haag, 9th Grader, Sandpoint Highschool, Idaho
  • Tianna Hunt, 12th Grader, City Neighbors High School, Maryland
  • Howard Jongkyu, Kim 9th Grader, Conestoga High School, Pennsylvania 
  • Brendan Kaminski, 10th Grader, Baldwin High School, New York
  • Kimtee Kundu, 12th Grader, Bravo Medical Magnet High School, California 
  • Darren McQueen, 12th Grader, Christopher Columbus High School, Florida 
  • Dieudonne Mfaume, 12th Grader, Lindbergh High School, Missouri
  • Diamond Moore, 11th Grader, Jones Senior High School, North Carolina
  • Surya Panyam, 10th Grader, Jesuit High School, Oregon 
  • Tiffany Peck, 12th Grader, Alameda High School, Colorado
  • Pedro Pena, Jr., 12th Grade, Anne Community High School, Illinois 
  • Sarah Rivera Rivera, 11th Grader, South County Highschool, Virginia
  • Rowan Jackson Sanborn, 9th Grader, Orono High School, Maine
  • Sophia Schmidt, 12th Grader, Ocean Springs High School, Mississippi
  • Milan Shah, 9th Grader, Westview High School, California
  • Sean Shelbrock, 12th Grader, Hill McCloy High School, Michigan
  • Amylia Tra,10th Grader, Collingswood High School, New Jersey
  • Leo Veatch, 11th Grader, Agate High School, Colorado
  • Ishta Wabaunsee, 11th Grader, Seaman High School, Kansas
  • Joy Washington, 11th Grader, Florida Virtual School, Florida
  • Elfin Wiriyan, 11th Grader, James Madison Memorial High School, Wisconsin

5 iCivics Election Day Activities

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Happy Election Day! Today, important local elections will be held around the country. These races and ballot measures are a great way to introduce students to voting, explore how the process works, and talk about the impact casting a ballot can have right in their local communities. If you’re searching for fun Election Day activities for your class, look no further! Check out some of our top resources.

1. Cast Your Vote Game

Cast Your Vote demonstrates the value of becoming an informed voter. In this game, students will research candidates, identify issues important to them, and then participate in a simulated local election.

The Extension Pack explains concepts and vocabulary that may be new to students and turns many parts of the game into teachable moments. The game offers English language learner (ELL) support and a pre/post-game assessment quiz, which will help you gain insight into what students learned during gameplay.

2. Voting Rights Lesson Plan

Even though your students may not be old enough to vote, they still can have major influence on elections. From registering voters to contacting elected officials, young people have many opportunities to participate in this democratic process. This resource guide – designed to be used independently – gives students tools, ideas, and guidance for engaging in elections outside the ballot box.

4. The Spectrum of State Election Laws Infographic

The rules for voting can vary greatly from one state to another. Keeping track of the differences can be difficult, but this interactive infographic lays out the various options and allows students to pinpoint which laws apply to their state. From registration to IDs to recounts, this infographic truly covers the election law spectrum.

5. Got Ballot? Lesson Plan

One of the best ways for students to understand how voting works is to see a ballot themselves! This lesson takes students to the voting booth and explains what they could see on a ballot. From referendums to recalls, students will get a better understanding of how voters have the opportunity to initiate change in state and local government.

These just scratch the surface of iCivics’ options for Election Day activities. Check out our Election Headquarters and Politics and Public Policy curriculum unit for more!

Head to the Election Headquarters!

Department of Defense and National Defense Education Program Move to Prioritize Civic Education With $2 Million Grant to iCivics

Posted on by icivics

The grant will fund the Civics, Service and Leadership program, designed to teach K–12 and JROTC students the foundational knowledge and skills needed to be engaged civic participants in a diverse United States.

Washington, DC — The Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Defense Education Program (NDEP) have awarded $2 million to iCivics, the country’s largest civic education provider, to build content and curriculum to teach civics to K–12 and Junior ROTC students. 

The grant will fund the development of iCivics’ Civics, Service and Leadership (CSL) program, a two-year pilot through which iCivics will build upon and refine its existing award-winning curricula to meet the specific needs of students in the military’s K–12 education system. It is the first grant awarded under the Enhanced Civic Education grant program developed by the DoD.

The initiative has the potential to ultimately reach the more than 60,000 students and 8,000 teachers—as well as the JROTC programs that operate in more than 1,700 public and private high schools, military outposts, and correctional centers throughout the United States and overseas.

The iCivics CSL program includes the development of new resources for elementary, middle and high school students, the creation of professional development for teachers designed specifically for NDEP, as well as the development of a technology portal for participating teachers and instructors. iCivics will also create a volunteer manual for military service members and families. All of the content will be aligned to state standards and benchmarks. iCivics will work with partners in this endeavor, including Blue Star Families, Makematic, National Council for the Social Studies, and a number of professional development providers. 

Section 234 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Department of Defense to implement a pilot program on enhanced civic education in collaboration with the DoDEA and/or JROTC. Enhanced Civics Education awardees will receive $4 million over two years to prepare the next generation to better understand the U.S. Government and their role as citizens in civic engagement.

This includes an expansion of the DoDEA and JROTC civic education programs, working to get military-affiliated youth more civically engaged and teaching critical civic knowledge and skills, such as voting, public service, collaboration, compromise, and media literacy. The DoD also awarded a civic education grant to the Education Development Center.

“iCivics couldn’t be more honored to be entrusted with this important work. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the military community and families for whom civic duty is already a central component of everyday life,” said iCivics Executive Director Louise Dubé. “We are thankful for the opportunity this partnership with the Department of Defense and National Defense Education Program presents for iCivics to play its part in ensuring the highest quality civic education possible for these students tied in such a unique and meaningful way to the civic life of our country through their DoDEA or JROTC education.”

In iCivics, the DoD has found a partner that is trusted by schools across the country. Founded in 2009 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics has more than 300 digital educational resources used by more than 145,000 teachers and 9 million students annually. iCivics resources, which teach the fundamentals of American constitutional democracy by engaging students in a first-person perspective of civic life, are nonpartisan and free to use at www.icivics.org. 

“Our military families and young people interested in serving in the armed forces deserve the best possible civic education, which will ensure a full understanding of the constitutional democracy service members pledge to protect,” said Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-04). “In Congress, we recognized the importance of K-12 civic learning by funding a Department of Defense grant to create a civic education program for the Department of Defense Education Activity. iCivics is the national leader in providing students the tools needed to learn the fundamentals of engaged citizenship, and I am proud to champion iCivics for this program.”

Using iCivics in Special Education

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

This may sound like an obvious statement, but working with students in special education is not like teaching in general education. I know I’m not breaking any new ground with that statement, but you might be surprised at how few resources are out there for teaching social studies in special education. 

In some cases, like with iCivics, resources can be easily adapted to accommodate the different needs of varied classrooms.

As someone who has spent most of the past eight years teaching middle and high school social studies content at non-public, special education schools in the Baltimore area, I can tell you that iCivics materials have to be used a little bit differently in my context. 

For example, it seems like most Gen Ed teachers have their students play iCivics games individually. Students can go through the game at their own pace, and this setup also allows for friendly competition. This method is undoubtedly appropriate for many students. Others, however, do not always work best on their own, which brings me to my biggest piece of advice: Play the games as a whole group.

When I started using iCivics games in 2014, the entire class played together out of necessity. The school I was at had great technology, but we didn’t have a class-set of laptops, let alone individual laptops for each student. I had my desktop and a projector. So, I had no choice but to project my screen onto the board and ask my students to help me make decisions. 

My students made it quite clear that they did not care what I said or did; they didn’t want to learn anything about the government or civics because they saw no use for it. Mind you, these special education classes are full of kids on a diploma track whose life experiences have often included negative encounters with aspects of government, including the public school system.

It’s for this reason that playing Executive Command with that first group of students was a transformational moment for me. To see the excitement my students had being President of the United States was truly awe-inspiring.

After helping me navigate the executive branch, that first group of students (and most of the subsequent groups of students) were so excited, they wanted to play iCivics games again and again. They wanted to play so badly, they were willing to take turns and watch each other play on the board.

That’s right: students who often had trouble being in the same room with each other for more than 30 minutes were willing to take turns, watch politely, or sometimes even help each other navigate the game! 

So, next time you play an iCivics game with your class, try playing with the whole class. When you play the games as a whole group, you can better manage how engaged students are in the game.

You can: 

  • make sure students actually read and understand what the game’s asking them to do. 
  • make sure students understand what all the symbols and logos stand for. 
  • scaffold the reading and listening portions of the game, if necessary. 
  • fill in some of the missing content knowledge they may need to fully understand the game. 
  • ask probing questions to encourage deeper thought.

An important addition to this is to realize that when playing as a whole group, the game takes much longer. The first time you play with your class, build in at least two days to complete the game, allowing time to fill in the content knowledge, ask probing questions, etc. 

There are undoubtedly benefits from students playing iCivics games individually, but I would at least start by playing the game as a whole group and then build up to students playing independently or in small groups. Either way, you’ll know that you’re helping to prepare your students to be more civically engaged.

Written by Neil Wrona

Neil is currently a Special Educator at Mount View Middle School in Howard County, MD, but has taught the gamut of high school social studies for most of his eight years as a teacher. He has been a member of the iCivics Educator Network since 2017 and has been a book reviewer for Solution Tree Publishing since 2020. You can follow him on Twitter @neilwrona.

 Through the iCivics Educator Network, the perspectives of teachers across the country contribute to the public conversation about civic education in the United States. Each contributor represents their own opinion. We welcome this diversity of perspectives.

Are Your Students #VoteReady?

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

The U.S. Government class started the same way it has every semester for the past three years. Students faced the following question:

If/when you are eligible to do so, will you register to vote?

(And for those who do not meet the citizenship or residency requirements: Will you encourage those who can register to do so?)

And, as with every other time students have faced this question before we actually got into the curriculum, the answers were roughly the same:

“I don’t really care about politics.”

“I don’t know enough to figure out who to vote for.”

“Those people are all the same; it doesn’t matter if you vote.”

“Elections aren’t real—‘they’ already know who is going to win. The voting is just a show.”

“I’ve got to save my money for other things, I can’t pay to register to vote.”

“One vote doesn’t matter.”

“What difference does it make?”

“ I have to answer ALL those questions to register?”

“I don’t have an ID.”

I have heard these same responses from dozens of students. Our public high school in Allentown, PA, is relatively new, and has graduated only three classes of seniors so far. This year, I enter into preparing my fourth cohort of 17-18-year-olds to take their place in adult civic life in our community. As with past years, I will be faced with several sections each day of students promising me that I will not succeed in convincing them that voting should be in their toolbox of ways to have an impact on their future.

Allentown is a city of more than 121 million people. Set in the Lehigh Valley in southeastern Pennsylvania, Allentown is home to a population that is more than 68 percent BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), most of whom belong to the city’s Hispanic/Latino majority. Around a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and almost a fifth of the population is foreign-born. These demographics are reflected in Allentown’s public school district, where 84 percent of the 16,000+ students are BIPOC, with almost 70 percent identifying as Hispanic/Latino. Additionally, 89 percent are from low-income families, and 100 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. 

We know that nationwide, communities of color and communities with high levels of poverty have the lowest rates of voter registration and voter turnout. Allentown is no different. While Pennsylvania as a whole has a higher-than-average rate of voter turnout (in 2020 approximately 71% of Pennsylvania’s eligible voters turned out to vote, compared to 68 percent nationally), and the Lehigh Valley rate was higher than both the statewide and national turnout rates (75% in 2016), voting rates across Allentown’s neighborhoods vary widely. Voter turnout in Allentown’s affluent and mostly White West End is more than three times the rate in Allentown’s Center City neighborhoods. 

It is from these neighborhoods, where voting isn’t a tradition seen and practiced in most households, that my skeptical students come by their beliefs about voting. They often report never having seen someone vote, not knowing anyone who has ever voted, and sharing a general disbelief that the government represents or serves the people in their homes and neighborhoods. They look at candidates for office and do not see themselves. 

My students are the perfect representation of research published in 2016 listing the most common reasons why people don’t vote.

  1. Registration is hard
  2. Lack of education and/or lack of a community of peers who are voters
  3. Lack of enough choices
  4. Apathy and burnout.

Luckily, several of those obstacles to voting can be addressed within the civics classroom—and that’s where our classroom investigation of voting comes in.

Voting Starts in the Classroom

Voter registration drives are common sights in U.S. high schools. Often consisting of decorated tables in the school cafeteria, energetic student volunteers with clipboards at Back-to-School Nights, and colorful posters hanging on bulletin boards with directions to registration websites or stacks of paper registration forms, registering voters is the work of extracurricular clubs and outside organizations partnering with volunteers within the schools. But in communities where the act of opting into formal participation in the institutions of civic life isn’t a given, it isn’t enough to merely hang a poster and hand a student a form to fill out. 

We show students what we value through what is given a place in the classroom. In our school building, this has meant giving voting a place front-and-center in civics instruction.

The opening discussion around “will you be a voter?” is the launch of an eight-week investigation around the history of voting rights and voter suppression, trends in voter participation, analysis of access to government resources compared to voter turnout, and current proposed state and national legislation to either expand or restrict voting access. At the end of these eight weeks, students complete two culminating tasks—an argumentative research paper on methods needed to improve voter participation and a personal decision: will they register to vote or not?

The sequence of instruction is as follows: Before entering their senior year, students are immersed in a civics-focused social studies curriculum, where all instruction culminates in some form of civic action. The anchor of this curriculum is the iCivics’ Foundations of Government curriculum unit. Each year, students have grappled with their role as “We the People” and what it means to be responsible for self-governance under a republican democracy based upon popular sovereignty.

Over the course of the first half of their U.S. Government semester, students work through the following activities:

  1. Comparing voter turnout: Students begin by looking at examples of allocations of federal resources to states as they are influenced by voter turnout. Students learn that politicians are driven to pay more attention to the needs of populations that vote.
  2. Investigate the following areas
    • Who should have the right to vote?
    • Why don’t people vote?
    • What stops people from voting?
    • Who votes? (A map-based investigation of voter turnout)
    • Should we make voting mandatory?
  3. Culminating task: Students then research state and federal voting reform proposals, select one or propose one of their own, and produce argument papers to support their ideas. Time permitting, students translate their formal papers into posters, public service announcements (PSAs), social media posts, and letters to the editor to share their learning and persuade the community.
  4. Voter registration drive: This happens within the classroom, not the cafeteria. Research shows that difficulty completing the registration process is a major obstacle for individual voters, so we make space for it during regular instructional time. The iCivics resource Got Ballot? is a great tool for supporting new voters as they grapple with their first ballot. We also celebrate new voters by throwing a “First Political Birthday” party the day after each election day, with cupcakes and candles for each student who voted for the first time.

The Proof is in the Progress

Voter registration takes place three times a year in our high school: once in early fall for those eligible students who turn 18 before the November elections; again in mid-winter for those who turn 18 before the April Pennsylvania primaries; and a third time before graduation to support those who turn 18 after those dates. Students become ambassadors and reach out to peers who need support, and even bring home their newfound expertise in the registration process. Many parents, aunts, cousins, and neighbors have also been registered as part of student voter registration drives. 

Has facilitating deep student investigation into voting and the consequences of low voter turnout had an impact on student belief in their ability to raise their voices through voting? Judge for yourself!

Remember where the students started off each semester? Overwhelmingly skeptical and disinterested in anything related to voting. 

At the end of each semester? In 2020, our high school was one of 20 recognized nationwide by When We All Vote and MTV for excellence in new voter education and registration. What’s more, we have earned the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award all three years that we have had 18-year-olds as students—twice at the gold level. 

This award recognizes Pennsylvania high schools for success in voter registration. Schools must register 65 percent of eligible students to earn the silver level or 85 percent for the gold level. (Only COVID prevented us from reaching Gold status last year). 

One of my students from the Class of 2019 came to me as a student who believed that voting in Pennsylvania had nothing to do with her. Most of her family still lived in Puerto Rico, and she claimed that there was no reason for her to vote any place else. After a semester of learning, she had not only registered to vote, she was also one of three students who represented us in Harrisburg to accept our first award from the Governor. 

What changed her thinking? That fall, her home community was devastated by Hurricane Maria. In the classroom, she learned that although Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, the island has no votes in the Electoral College and, therefore, does not participate in general presidential elections. Her family, then, had not been able to vote for the President who would decide on relief and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and could not vote him out if they were unhappy with his decisions. But this student realized that she could use her vote in Pennsylvania to speak for her island and her family. She is a perfect example of what can happen when we connect student learning to authentic experiences in students’ lives.

 

Written by Shannon Salter

Shannon Salter is in her 10th year teaching high school social studies. She has worked under a National Science Foundation grant, published research in Social Education and The Science Teacher, and spoken at National Geographic, the National Council for the Social Studies, and several professional development sessions. Shannon is a member of the iCivics Educator Network, the National Geographic Educator Advisory Panel, the National Constitution Center Teacher Advisory Council, and is currently serving on the Educating for American Democracy Implementation Consortium. Her passion is creating opportunities for students to use the skills of civic action to take their learning in all subjects out of the classroom to make an impact on their community.

Through the iCivics Educator Network, the perspectives of teachers across the country contribute to the public conversation about civic education in the United States. Each contributor represents their own opinion. We welcome this diversity of perspectives.

How Iconic! A New Way to Find The Best iCivics Resource for Your Unique Classroom

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Our “teach” page search is built to help you find iCivics resources with as few clicks as possible, saving you valuable time when lesson planning. The search view displays all of our resources (hint, hint: we have more than just games!). As shown below, you can use filters such as “middle school,” “game,” “curriculum unit,” “state standards,” and more to sort. View this training video for a walkthrough of all of the filters available.

Introducing the Icons

We have added icons to the search view on the “teach” page that will help you quickly understand what each lesson or activity offers. The icons indicate:

  • Grade Level: Easily search for middle or high school resources. 
  • Pedagogy: We call these “Tags.” Think strategies and modes of learning, such as “inquiry-based,” “ELL,” and cross-curricular connections.
  • Technology Requirements: Whether you’re looking for no-tech or tech-specific activities, we have them at iCivics. 
  • Resources: What resources are included with a lesson or game? Icons like “PDF” and “PPT” can tell you. Icons also note when a lesson includes a Nearpod, Kahoot, or interactive Google Slides deck. 

To help you get more familiar, we have created a handy icon menu. So many options, right?! To utilize the iconography when searching, simply hover your mouse over the icons and the title will appear. 

Visit the Icon Menu

Want to see an example?

Let’s assume you’re looking to use our game Win the White House and find activities to teach around the game. Below is how the icons on the extension pack resource card illustrate what is offered and will help you think about how you might use the resource with students.

A Sneak Peek of the Icon Menu

Below is a quick look at some of the icons related to pedagogy, such as “inquiry-based” and “project-based” to give you an idea for filtering down your search! We bet you didn’t know we had all of these options?! Explore the menu to see more. 

Assessment: Resources that include assessments. This may include quizzes or instructions in the resources’s teacher guide.

ELA/Literacy: Resources that support literacy.

Inquiry-Based: Resources that center an inquiry-based approach to learning.

Project-Based: Resources that include project-based learning (PBL) activities and instructional approaches.

We also have a stellar line-up of partners, whose interactive tools and technology offer you the ability to use iCivics lessons in any classroom environment. Explore some of our featured partners below. The icon menu offers a complete list.

Boost student creativity with iCivics lessons by using our built-in Kami integration!

Try iCivics lessons with the student-paced or live participation features on Nearpod.

Test student knowledge with ready-to-play Kahoot quizzes for iCivics lessons.

Enter to Win a Civics Book Bundle from Penguin Young Readers!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

We have teamed up with our partners at Penguin Young Readers to give five lucky teachers a themed Who HQ book bundle, ideal for elementary and middle school students! You could win one of five unique book bundles that contains 10-11 Who HQ books and 50 iCivics pencils and stickers for your classroom

Here is a sneak peek of one of the themed bundles you could win:

Entering this giveaway is easy! To enter:

  1. Complete a Who HQ For You Civics activity (found under the October Theme) with your students between Monday, October 4 to Friday, October 15, 2021.
  2. Submit samples of the completed activity along with a short write-up of top takeaways and memorable moments.

The Who HQ Civics Book Bundle Giveaway is open now through October 15, 2021. Visit the official giveaway page to learn more.

New Documentary Recounts the Life of iCivics Founder Sandra Day O’Connor

Posted on by icivics

Today—Sept. 21, 2021— marks the 40th anniversary of the unanimous confirmation of Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.

A new documentary just released by American Experience, “Sandra Day O’Connor: The First,” provides new insights into this pioneering woman, recounting a life that reflected and shaped an era. Justice O’Connor forged a legal career at a time when few women did, serving in all three branches of Arizona state government before becoming the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, where she spent nearly 25 years before retiring in 2006.

Her public service didn’t end after retirement, however. Over the course of her career, Justice O’Connor had become increasingly concerned about the growing lack of understanding regarding the system of government in the United States and disengagement from civic life.

“I’ve seen first-hand how vital it is for all citizens to understand our Constitution and unique system of government, and participate actively in their communities,” she wrote in a 2018 public letter announcing her stepping back from public life. “I made a commitment to myself, my family, and my country that I would use whatever years I had left to advance civic learning and engagement.”

So, in 2009, Justice O’Connor founded iCivics to ensure all Americans have the knowledge and will to participate in our unique experiment in self-government by transforming civic education with innovative, truly engaging games and resources. Of all her accomplishments, Justice O’Connor considers iCivics to be her most important work and greatest legacy.

“There is no more important work than deepening young people’s engagement in our nation.” – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

Since its founding, iCivics has grown and evolved rapidly, becoming the nation’s premier nonprofit civic education provider of high-quality, nonpartisan, engaging, and free resources to more than 7.6 million students annually. We are proud to be a successful, high-impact, and scalable resource solution, as well as the sector leader driving systemic change, with the capacity and strategic ambition to fulfill and sustain Justice O’Connor’s ambitious vision. Day in and day out, we are guided by her wisdom, humor, and determination—all of which are showcased in the documentary.

Much has changed in our world since 1981, but the need for equitable, nonpartisan civic education may be even greater and more urgent today than when Justice O’Connor joined the highest court in the land. We are proud to continue fulfilling her most important work: to provide every student in the United States with high-quality civic education.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2021: Courage, Integrity and Commitment

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

I started my 20th year in education in the second year of a global pandemic. Teachers, doctors, nurses, and countless other medical and educational personnel are exhausted, drained physically and emotionally—and yet they keep showing up to do the job.

As I listen to the academic conversations in my classroom, I can’t help but remember how emotionally and physically exhausted my students must be, too, yet they keep showing up to do the job.

I think of those in this amazing country that, despite a global pandemic, continue showing up to fight for justice, for peace and for recognition.

As a Latina, entering Hispanic Heritage Month always fills me with pride. I can’t help but be grateful for the commitment, the courage, and the integrity of those that lobbied for Hispanic Heritage Week to be created in 1968—and even more so for those that continued the fight into 1988, which led to the Hispanic Heritage Month we celebrate today.

As a Spanish/English Dual Language teacher, I am so thankful for those that had the courage to fight for equality of education for English Learners. Cases like Lau v. Nichols paved the way for an incredible shift in education for our ELs. I think of Dr. Antonia Pantoja who founded ASPIRA and fought endlessly for educational access for the disadvantaged Latinx students in New York. Thanks to her efforts, and the efforts of those who supported her, the ASPIRA Consent Decree is now the foundation for many EL Programs across the country!

And finally, I think of Justice Sonia Sotomayor who, after overcoming her own insurmountable obstacles, became the first Latina Supreme Court Justice! In 2015, she became a board member of iCivics and her mission was to make sure that the games and support materials were accessible to all learners, especially English learners. In 2017, Do I Have A Right? became the first game with supports for English and multilingual learners and a Spanish version, ¿Tengo algún derecho?. It’s also the first game I ever used in my Dual Language classroom! I love how it not only allows my students to learn about their rights in this country, but their parents can, too! Thanks to Justice Sotomayor’s efforts to ensure a civic education for everyone, I am able to provide educational support to my Spanish-speaking EL students through iCivics’ ELL resources.

iCivics continued to provide support to our ELs during the pandemic. They teamed up with Kami to provide additional support to students learning online. Online learning proved to be difficult for many of our ELs who learn best by working together, hearing language spoken, and applying language. Thankfully, Kami provided an opportunity for students to continue to interact with language by providing ways to record verbal responses, as well as written responses in both languages. The typing capability and highlighting features allowed students to interact with the language depending on the tasks provided by the teacher.

So during this Hispanic Heritage Month, take time to remember those who demonstrated, and continue to demonstrate courage, integrity and commitment by fighting to level the playing field for our Latinx students!

How will you share stories of courage with your students?

Other iCivics Resources for Teaching English and Multilingual Learners:

Written by Verónica Schmidt-Gómez, MEd

Verónica Schmidt-Gómez teaches Dual Language World History, Dual Language Civics, and Dual Language U.S. History at Turner Bartels K-8 School in Tampa, FL. She has been a member of the iCivics Educator Network since 2020. Follow her on Twitter at: @SraGomezDual.

I ❤️ Support: My Time Helping Teachers as an iCivics Intern

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Hello there! My name is Jerry Vogel, and I am currently an intern at iCivics. I’ve been working here since the end of May, and it’s been a crazy ride all the way through. But let me tell you, it’s been fun. Allow me to tell you the abridged version of my life as a part of the iCivics family.

I started off working as a standard tech intern. I tested code and a few programs, sifted through databases for various pieces of information, and performed other simple—but useful—tasks. It wasn’t much, but it was honest work. However, the real fun began in June. Our dearly beloved Curriculum Associate Molly Launceford announced that she was leaving the company to pursue a law degree and needed someone to take her spot as a member of the Support staff. She trained me on how to respond to inquiries from our educators, fill out the weekly report, and warned me that while the job may feel easy, work would soon ramp up. Not much happened in June or July with Support. Occasionally, a teacher reached out to ask about data privacy. Some questions about games came in and other pretty tame stuff. But then… the back to school season rolled around.

August has been a crazy month here at iCivics as the school year kicks off and teachers head back to the classroom – and begin using iCivics! As many of you may know, we released new features on our website! As a member of the Tech team, I worked on what we called the “site migration.” It’s tech speak for an upgrade. I helped make sure certain parts of our analytics worked correctly, but my main task was monitoring support inquiries from educators. And as soon as we migrated the site, the tickets started coming in. 

I could have never expected the rush that I’ve experienced as a part of the Support team. It’s been crazy! We’ve had a lot of teachers asking us for help and direction. And I have LOVED it. It’s been so much fun. I really feel like I’m making a difference to our users. Whenever I press send on a response detailing how to sync a Google Classroom class or a response telling someone that their bug has been resolved, I feel a twinge of happiness. It’s wonderful to be able to help so many people all from the comfort of my big desk chair. Knowing that what I am doing is not only helping the person I am responding to but many others experiencing the same issue brings a big smile to my face.

This is far from the end of my time at iCivics. My internship will be extending into December, and I’m looking forward to continuing my work here. Support does not end with back to school! I’m excited to see what comes of my time with the Support team. Then of course there’s programming—my true speciality. I’m looking forward to seeing what sorts of programs I will get to work on for iCivics. All I know is that whatever I do, it’s going to be a good time for me. And of course, it’ll make the experience of everyone who reads this better. We’re always looking to make iCivics as amazing as possible. I’m happy to do my part.

Written by Jerry Vogel

Jerry Vogel is a Computer Science student at Northeastern University currently working on the Tech and Support teams at iCivics. He loves to listen to music, cook, and watch videos of cute animals.