|If you cannot see the video above, please
download the Quicktime movie here
Project Citizen is a civic education program for middle school students promotes competent and responsible participation in state and local government. It actively engages students in learning how to monitor and influence public policy and encourages civic participation among students, their parents, and members of the community.
As a class project, students' work together to identify and study a public policy issue, eventually developing an action plan for implementing their policy. Working in cooperative teams, the class learns to interact with their government through a five-step process that includes:
Students' work is displayed in a class portfolio containing a display section and a documentation section.
In a culminating activity the class presents its portfolio in a simulated legislative hearing, demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of how public policy is formulated. Classes may also be able to enter their portfolios in a local competition with other classes.