Transatlantic Exchange of Civic Educators (TECE): School Based and Non-Formal Civics in Germany and the USA

The Tisch College of Civic Life is excited to announce the launch of the Transatlantic Exchange of Civic Educators (TECE), a new project in partnership with the Association of German Educational Organizations (AdB). This fellowship will bring together ten participants from Germany and ten from the United States to engage in dialogue in the field of extracurricular/OST youth and young adult civic learning.

From July 2021 through March 2022, fellows will participate actively in in-person exchange activities in Germany and the U.S., as well as online programming to include peer-learning seminars, site-visits, and thematic small-group work.

Are you involved in the field of civic learning with young people (ages 12-29) in a community or youth work organization, after school association, museum, historical site, youth organizing nonprofit, research association or other related institution? Can you commit to enhancing your own practice and boosting the work of your organization through international professional exchange?

We are eager to accept your application by the deadline on May 18th. More information on the program and how to apply can be found here.

As part of our project launch, we will host an open event, “Civic Learning vs. Politische Bildung: A Discussion of Concepts, Infrastructures and Approaches in the US and Germany”, on April 20 at 11:00am EST/5:00pm CET with Dr. Peter Levine, Associate Dean and Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs in Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and Prof. Bettina Heinrich, Professor of Social Work and Culture Work at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg. The main event will be followed by an informal Q&A session, where applicants can ask questions about the application process. The event will be held in English. To register, please visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkfuuorTIsGdWiSdKJJDFLCXl24qVgi29X

Please contact greeson@adb.de with any questions.

Background

The effort to reengage in transatlantic dialogue in the field of youth civic learning comes at a critical time, as both Germany and the United States experience similar societal challenges: structural racism, right-wing populism, polarization and mistrust of democratic institutions and the media, not to mention a strained transatlantic relationship, all exacerbated further by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Germany, the field of non-formal civic education, which falls within the broader “youth work” sector, is legally established and involves a rich array of public and civil society institutions. This system has roots in the democratic “reeducation” effort post WWII in Germany, which was led by the United States. It has its own guiding principles and professional field, separate from school-based civics.

Even though they share a connected history, interactions between school-based and non-formal civic education and between German and US civic educators been sparse. Professional discourse has developed separately, resulting in distinct and diverse infrastructures, concepts, and approaches. In bringing together actors in the field of civic learning, civic engagement and civic youth work from two national approaches and infrastructures, we hope to unlock opportunities for mutual learning through an investigation of common challenges and respective approaches, as well as to identify promising new concepts and future partnerships.  

Revised Florida Civics Benchmarks and New Holocaust and Character Education Standards Next Week

Good morning, friends in Civics. This came across my desk from our friends in FDOE.

The department has opened Rule 6A-1.09401, Florida Administrative Code, for rule development to
adopt or revise several content areas of student academic standards. These include Civics and Government (revised), Holocaust Education (new), Character Education (new), B.E.S.T. English Language Arts (ELA) standards (technical and minor revisions that will not affect implementation), and Access Points – Alternate Academic Achievement Standards for the B.E.S.T. ELA and Mathematics standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Drafts of the proposed revisions will be posted the week of April 5, 2021, at http://www.fldoe.org/standardsreview/.


A rule development workshop will be held on Friday, April 9, 2021, at 11:00 am EDT. To register for the workshop, please visit https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4060571620471297807.


There will also be an online public comment survey for Civics and Government, Holocaust Education, and Character Education standards. The department encourages all stakeholders to participate in the review process through the online surveys, which will be open when the draft standards are posted through April 23, 2021.
• Civics and Government survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6176659/CivicsStandards1.
• Holocaust Education survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6240586/HolocaustEdStandards1.
• Character Education survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6240369/CharacterEdStandards1.
We encourage you to share these public comment opportunities with local stakeholders to help maximize the number of Floridians contributing to this critical process. If you have additional questions, please contact Michael DiPierro in the Bureau of Standards and Instructional Support at 850-245-9773 or by email at Michael.DiPierro@fldoe.org.

We here at LFI/FJCC encourage you to take some time and plan on attending this workshop if you can; at a minimum, be sure to provide feedback on the new Holocaust and Character Education Standards and the revised K-12 Civics benchmarks! If you have questions about this meeting or these standards, please shoot your questions to Mike DiPierro at FDOE.

New Resources Added to Civics360!

Good afternoon, friends in Civics! I am happy to share with you today some new activities that have been added to Civics360. These were developed by two excellent civics educators in Orange County Public Schools, Lindsey Russell and Michelle Preiser, and edited by our own Val McVey. We are grateful for their willingness to develop more support resources for our Civics360 platform!

The new resources are for 2.8 (Political Parties):

2.9 (Constitutional Qualifications for Office):

and 2.11 (Bias, Symbolism, and Propaganda):

Work on additional improvements and resources for Civics360 are ongoing. Of course, if you have any questions about this platform, the resources (including word versions or answer keys) or anything else, please email us!

Find Ease and Flow in Groups with Next Stage Facilitation!

Ten Directions invites you to an exciting development opportunity with their anticipated Next Stage Facilitation Program. The 6- weeks online training goes live from April 20th- May 25th and is oriented for professionals who want to push their edge, take more risks and find more flow, ease and effectiveness in working with groups. This is perfect for anyone who is interested in taking the first step in the Certified Integral Facilitator ® path and is officially accredited by the ICF to provide 23.5 CCEU’s

Even better, in partnership with Ten Directions we are offering a DISCOUNT FOR NCDD members of 20% off the tuition until April 10 **** use coupon JOY2NCDD ****

To find out more and register, read below or navigate to the Ten Directions’ page here.


April 20-May 25 Next Stage Facilitation

This is the first step in the Certified Integral Facilitator ® path.

Integral Facilitator ® is focused on growing capacities for collaborative work – in communities, groups and organizations. Facilitative leaders, coaches, facilitators, and mediators, and change makers to transform how people and groups can accomplish more together, create thriving dynamic communities, and shape the kind of culture we want to live in.

Next Stage Facilitation™ is an advanced leadership program, designed to expand your perception of yourself as a facilitative leader, your impact in the room, and your potential for shaping group experience. It integrates deep insights from the fields of adult development, Zen Awareness and Integral theory, combined with core competencies of masterful facilitation.

This live 6 week online training is oriented to self-actualizing professionals who want to push their edges, take more risks, and find more flow, ease and effectiveness in working with groups.

In this training, you’ll refine your ability to:
– Rejuvenate a room by addressing what is exciting or even threatening (and often both)
– Go off-script to adapt in the moment, following energy to sustain engagement
– Make “facilitator moves” to increase trust and connection

You’ll experience hands-on practice and receive targeted personal feedback and coaching from the faculty team, alongside other high-caliber facilitative leaders, change makers and innovators engaging with courageous intentions and fresh outlooks.

Next Stage Facilitation – April 20 – May 25, 2020 – 6 weekly classes, online.
Learn More and Register Here

Being in the room with a team of confident, adaptive, and insightful facilitators provides a rich and immersive container for experiential learning. In every moment, there is something we can learn from. Please share this with your colleagues so that they can take advantage of this opportunity – And – even better – here is a special DISCOUNT FOR NCDD members of 20% off the tuition until April 10 **** use coupon JOY2NCDD ****

Please reach out with any questions – group discounts are available for teams of 3+
Programs@tendirections.com
https://tendirections.com/offerings/integral-facilitator/next-stage/

Find the original version of this opportunity on the Ten Directions’ site at: www.tendirections.com/offerings/integral-facilitator/next-stage/

LFI/FJCC Free Online Civics Professional Development Courses

CivicsClassroomLogo

Good afternoon, friends in Civics. Are you looking for some free self paced professional development in civics education? Consider enrolling in our The Civics Classroom Course Series! A certificate of completion, for 5 hours of professional development, will be issued for each course successfully completed. While the first course, The Prepared Classroom, is especially designed for Florida civics teachers, the courses are free and open to all civics and government educators throughout the country.

Are you already enrolled in any of these courses? That’s great! We have had over 200 people complete these courses succesfully! While we want to definitely encourage you to take your time in completing these courses (we understand your schedule!), please be aware that as of April 01, 2021 we will be removing participants who have not visited/taken part in their courses since last summer. You are of course free to re-enroll should you be removed. We believe that these can make a difference and support your professional learning and your students.

You can download the above flier here: Civics_Classroom.

What is the Civics Classroom?

This course series provides educators with online, self-paced, professional learning that develops the knowledge and skills necessary to help students achieve their roles as participants in civic life. Each course will take approximately five hours to complete. While it is recommended that participants complete the courses in order, it is NOT required.

The awarding of a certificate for each course in this series is based on successful completion of the pre and post tests, module quizzes, post course survey, and a passing final grade in the course. Certificates are emailed by staff of the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship at the Lou Frey Institute within two weeks of course completion.

A Prepared Classroom

A Prepared Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:

  • Course descriptions and the Civics End-of-Course Test Item Specifications,
  • How to utilize curriculum and pacing guides,
  • The value of strategic planning and preparing for instruction, and
  • Making informed decisions about instruction based on formative and summative data.

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/JXYKR7. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: JXYKR7.

A Cognitively Complex Classroom

A Cognitively Complex Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:

  • The role of cognitive complexity when facilitating instruction and assessment,
  • Utilizing strategies and structures, and
  • Developing learning activities that integrate English Language Arts and disciplinary literacy skills.

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/R3L74M. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: R3L74M.

A Cohesive Classroom

A Cohesive Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:

  • identifying the needs of students for scaffolded and differentiated supports aligned with the Universal Design for Learning and,
  • how to develop a responsive civics classroom that builds academic and social-emotional competencies.

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at any time by clicking here https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/YFE7HR. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: YFE7HR.

A Constitutional Classroom

(THIS COURSE WAS DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES!) A Constitutional Classroom will provide teachers with an understanding of:

  • Major ideas in the U.S. Constitution,
  • How to apply disciplinary literacy skills, and
  • Preparing for instruction to make content accessible for all learners.

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at any time by clicking here https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/BKAM74. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: BKAM74.

Questions about The Civics Classroom? Contact Us!

We also have a course specially designed for government classes around the state of Florida’s Civic Literacy Assessment for high school.

The Civics Classroom

The High School Government Classroom: Building Critical Knowledge course will provide teachers with pedagogy, content, and resources for:

  • lesson planning and preparation in social studies
  • the principles of American democracy
  • the US Constitution
  • Founding Documents
  • Landmark Cases

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/EXNT4C. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: EXNT4C.

And there is our High School US History PD, developed in collaboration with the National Archives.

The Civics Classroom

The High School US History: Civil War and Reconstruction course will provide teachers with pedagogy, content, and resources for:

  • the major ideas of the cause, course, and consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era
  • primary sources and disciplinary literacy
  • strategies and structures for accessible learning

Download the course syllabus

Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/AMPACA. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: AMPACA.

Questions about these courses or any other professional development? Drop me a line and tell us how we can support you!

Varieties of Stoicism

I have a bunch of colleagues who do serious work on stoicism, and, well, I don’t. (1) But I’m teaching moral psychology again this semester and there’s a lot of relevant insights from various debates that I think are stoicism adjacent. (2) So here’s a kind of typology:

There’s stuff-upper-lip stoicism (which I associate with Rudyard Kipling and pasty British imperialism) that engages in emotional compression in the name of power-wielding, declaims the passions as unmanly, and has this dangerous tendency to explode when challenged. It’s actually deeply sentimental in its denial of emotion—it puts emotions to work ordering the world towards a hierarchical goal, that requires the passionate pretend to dispassion. Kipling’s poem “If” captures it perfectly, (“If you can fill the unforgiving minute/With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,/Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,/And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”) but so does Henley’s Invictus. (“I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul.”) And to be clear I like both poems!

There’s the stoicism of the weak: don’t get angry or resentful even at outrageous injustice because these reactions are seen as challenges to powerful and punished. Nietzsche hated this kind of stoicism: it makes all kinds of external circumstances over into an unchangeable order of Nature, flattening mortality, morality, and mores into a single situation we must merely find a way to stomach. Of course this can be pragmatic but it denies so many possibilities in the name of survival. Ironically, a lot of Admiral Stockdale’s “Courage Under Fire” probably should be classified here, in large part because he embraces Epictetus over Marcus Aurelius, and because his main practice is in his incarceration rather than in his warfighting.

Finally there’s the mindfulness stoicism of modern western buddhists (lowercase because they tend to be anti-metaphysical) and Silicon Valley self-help gurus and “techbros.” This has a developed a few different strands, but the key as far as I can tell is that there is a mix of practices: meditate to be 10% happier, update your priors dispassionately, take bets when offered, and entertain provocative ideas without blinking.

That said, I think a crucial precursor to all these ideas is David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Allen was a heroin addict and he transformed his drug recovery and New Age mysticism into a project management method for translating projects into discrete tasks, and allowing the careful management of those tasks to free oneself of anxiety. It’s all about preventing perseveration and allowing easy flow states—but it also suits automation and software replacement really well. That’s why Tim Ferris claims stoicism is “an ideal ‘operating system’ for thriving in high-stress environments.”

I sometimes talk about the way that doing logic sets—or programming for that matter—can feel like turning off your brain. That’s obviously not true: it’s “cognitively loaded” work, and confusing if you don’t know where to start. But it’s also mechanical and somewhat pleasant for its ability to give you direct feedback. The word “flow” seems to apply here: GTD is all about how to reduce big projects into discrete tasks small enough to develop that meditative flow while completing. And meditation holds out the same promise: to relate to your life with a little less attachment, to do your work with less friction, and yet still be very productive. The “Bayesian” rationalists sometimes promise a similar experience of mechanically updating ones’ priors as new information comes in—but I’ll note that one of the first metacognitive strategies of the Less Wrong rationalists is the Stoic move of separating the world into facts and beliefs, external realities and internal states. Once that is done there’s no reason to stress about it any longer: the goal is to make one’s internal states (of belief) match up with the external realities, and to bracket the various anxieties and hopes that often lead us into false beliefs.

What worries me about Silicon Valley’s mindfulness stoicism is the sense that it combines all the worst elements of world mastery and manliness with the stoicism of the weak: acceptance of injustice, the embrace of a hostile natural (and social!) world to which we must conform, and a quietism that locates our agency in that compliance while praising it as mastery. Ironically, some of the Bayesian rationalists are not at all quietistic. They create new things and institutions, organize communities, and protect their interests. There are social norms and trendsetters. But I think it’s pretty obvious that these activities fall outside of their principles, and that to a certain extent they are setting aside their stoicism when they do it. (That’s particularly obvious when they take non-rationalists to task for putative betrayals.)

There’s a lot more to be said about the intersections of buddhism and stoicism (and indeed about the intersection of Buddhism and Stoicism) but I have been pondering the role of the subject. The detachment of the stoic is hyper-individualistic in some ways: it counsels the precarity and fragility of others and the external world, but in the name of self-discipline, personal honor, and a duty to integrity. The detachment of the buddhists (and Buddhists) can’t be so easily incorporated here: embracing no-self and emptiness can be a lot more challenging and disruptive. So while Silicon Valley has adopted meditative practice without a care for the metaphysics that might be smuggled in, it may also be that these practices carry their own phenomenological lessons and insights. Perhaps the techbros are going to learn some things in spite of themselves.

  • (2) I’ve run roughshod over a bunch of important differences here, and I’m not sorry for that.

The Lou Frey Institute is looking for a part-time marketing specialist!

Do you have good experience in marketing and social media and are looking for a good part time job (10-15 hours a week, potentially more if the situation requires it) that can use and build your experience? Do you care about civic education? We would love to have you join the Lou Frey Institute. Take a look, please! And if you have any questions, always happy to talk more!

Here’s what we are looking for:

Job Description:The Marketing Outreach Professional provides leadership and support on strategy, communications, media relations, and ongoing process improvement for the marketing and implementation of Lou Frey Institute and Florida Joint Center for Citizenship programs and activities. This position will collaborate with relevant LFI staff in developing communication and outreach strategies for ongoing LFI programs while supporting community relations efforts of Institute leadership while also analyzing the effectiveness of relevant strategies. Responsibilities include:
Implement new strategies to improve social media performance and engagement
Assist in managing multiple social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin
Track and monitor outcomes and statistics for website, social media, and e-communication
Support organization initiatives with mass communications through social media
Develop a social media content calendar and makes content web updates
Assist with writing, developing, and strategizing online content
Review communications from leadership to make sure messages are transparent and authentic
Monitor Institute reputation
Assist in marketing plan preparation, including budget and short and long-term strategy
Apply various social media tactics in creating brand awareness and generating inbound traffic that strengthens company’s social media presence
Produce marketing copy for our website

Take a look and think about working with a small and dedicated team to meet the needs of civic education in Florida and beyond!

Deliberative Democracy and Civic Life: A Civic Studies Conference in Sarajevo/Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

October 8-10, 2021

Sponsored by Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life and the association “i-dijaspora,” Switzerland

Co-organized by Peter Levine, Tufts University, and Nenad Stojanovi?, University of Geneva, with academic collaborations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Discussions about deliberative democracy represent one significant area of focus for the emerging interdisciplinary field of Civic Studies (Levine and So?tan 2014). Deliberative democracy is also a component of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina and inspires ongoing work in the City of Mostar. An international group of scholars and practitioners will meet from 8 October (evening) until 10 October (midday) to learn about the deliberations in Mostar, to consider theoretical frameworks and their practical applications, and to discuss the value–and possible limitations–of deliberation. Participants will be asked to read selected texts in advance and will spend the time in discussion.

Approximately 20 participants will be selected on the basis of their backgrounds and expertise, level of interest in the topic, and diversity of perspectives. Postgraduate students, university faculty, journalists, and experienced practitioners from civil society and government are welcome to apply. Applicants are welcome from any country. There is no fee for participation, and meals will be provided. Limited subsidies will be available for travel and lodgings for some of those who demonstrate need. The language of the readings and discussions will be English.

To apply, please complete this form, which will include a request to upload your CV.
Deadline: 30 April 2021

apply for the Tisch College postdoctoral fellowship in civic science

Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life will award a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Civic Science for the 2021-22 academic year (June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022). This postdoctoral fellowship is offered in partnership with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation in Dayton, OH and involves some work at Kettering’s offices in Dayton as well as full-time employment at Tufts in the Boston area.

The Tisch College Civic Science initiative (https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/civic-studies/civic-science), led by Dr. Peter Levine and Dr. Samantha Fried, aims to reframe the relationships among scientists and scientific institutions, institutions of higher education, the state, the media and the public. It also asks about the relationships and distinctions among those institutions, historically and today. With this context in mind, Civic Science seeks to…

  • Reconfigure the national conversation on divisive and complex issues that are both scientific and political in nature, thereby connecting scientific institutions, research, and publications to people’s values, beliefs, and choices.
  • Define and advance the public good in science, thereby finding ways for scientific institutions to better serve communities.
  • Explore the concept of knowledge as a commons (or common-pool resource), developing a line of work pioneered by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues
  • Develop curricula that simultaneously attend to scientific and civic issues and that teach students to understand and communicate both kinds of narratives together to a variety of audiences.
  • Develop approaches to democratic governance that are attuned to the role of the scientific enterprise in society.
  • Ask what it would mean to earn the trust of communities that have been historically marginalized by the institution of science, and what science would look like if this was a priority.
  • Intervene at institutional and grassroots levels, alongside a robust theoretical analysis.

A PhD is required. Applicants must also demonstrate a strong interest in investigating the intersections of science and civic matters as the focus of their postdoctoral year.

Civic Science is interdisciplinary, and this fellowship is open to specialists in any relevant field.

Qualifications

A scholar with a Ph.D. in any relevant discipline who is not yet tenured.

Desirable qualifications include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • A background, degree, or certificate in a STEM –– or STEM-adjacent –– field, OR
  • Work on strengthening, designing, or evaluating democratic processes, OR
  • A background in the Bloomington School approach to political economy and/or studies of common-pool resources, OR
  • A background in political science or political theory, OR
  • Previous work on the connections between community health and civic life, OR
  • A background in science, technology, and society (STS), OR
  • A background in critical theory, media studies, rhetoric, philosophy of science and technology, or science communication.

The ideal candidate may have more than one of these backgrounds.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will conduct research related to Civic Science, both independently and in collaboration with Peter Levine, Samantha Fried, and the Kettering Foundation. The Fellow may teach or co-teach one course to undergraduates in the Civic Studies Major. The Fellow will attend orientation and research meetings at the Kettering Foundation as requested.

Application Instructions

Apply here: https://apply.interfolio.com/59747. You will need …

  1. A cover letter that includes a description of your research goals during the fellowship year (which must relate to Civic Science) and courses you would like to offer;
  2. Your CV;
  3. One writing sample;
  4. Three letters of recommendation which should be uploaded by your recommenders to Interfolio directly; and
  5. Teaching course evaluations, if available.  

Opens March 17, 2021 and will continue until the position is filled, or May 20.
Questions about the position should be addressed to Dr. Peter Levine, Associate Dean of Tisch College at Peter.Levine@tufts.edu.
    
Non-Discrimination Statement
Our institution does not discriminate against job candidates on the basis of actual or perceived gender, gender identity, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or religion. Tufts University, founded in 1852, prioritizes quality teaching, highly competitive basic and applied research and a commitment to active citizenship locally, regionally and globally. Tufts University also prides itself on creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. Current and prospective employees of the university are expected to have and continuously develop skill in, and disposition for, positively engaging with a diverse population of faculty, staff, and students. Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff and fostering their success when hired. Members of underrepresented groups are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. If you are an applicant with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to search and apply for jobs, please contact us by calling Johny Laine in the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 617.627.3298 or at Johny.Laine@tufts.edu. Applicants can learn more about requesting reasonable accommodations at http://oeo.tufts.edu/.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Tufts University, founded in 1852, prioritizes quality teaching, highly competitive basic and applied research, and a commitment to active citizenship locally, regionally, and globally. Tufts University also prides itself on creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. Current and prospective employees of the university are expected to have and continuously develop skill in, and disposition for, positively engaging with a diverse population of faculty, staff, and students.

Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff and fostering their success when hired. Members of underrepresented groups are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. See the University’s Non-Discrimination statement and policy here https://oeo.tufts.edu/policies-procedures/non-discrimination/. If you are an applicant with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to search and apply for jobs, please contact us by calling Johny Laine in the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 617-627-3298 or atjohny.laine@tufts.edu. Applicants can learn more about requesting reasonable accommodations at http://oeo.tufts.edu.

Civic Action Project Receives 2020 Best Overall Program Impact Excellence Award for Florida!

Exciting news, friends! In the Spring of 2017, The Lou Frey Institute (LFI) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida (BGCCF) established a partnership, designed to help implement and support the creation of a Civic Action Project (CAP) Program in BGCCF’s After School Zone for middle school students. This program was adapted for middle schools and after-school environments from the original Civics Action Project first developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Since the launch of this effort, over 100 middle school students have participated in the CAP program, where they identify a community issue or problem of interest to them, research it, and propose a detailed plan for how to address it. In support of these students and their facilitators is the Institute’s Civics Instructional Specialist, Chris Spinale. Participating students attend a Civic Education Showcase on the UCF campus where they present their projects and findings to community stakeholders and policy makers. 

Because of the hard work of BGCCF staff, site facilitators, CAP teachers, and their club members, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida’s Civic Action Project Program for the After School Zone was named the recipient of the 2020 Best Overall Program Impact Excellence Award for the State of Florida by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Florida Area Council. 

CAP took home the prize for the State of Florida as the overall standout program among all the Boys & Girls Club programs in the state. Kelvin Curry, Director of Middle School Programs for BGCCF, thanked LFI for its partnership and all it has afforded their club members. 

Both LFI and BGCCF are committed to continuing the hard work of cultivating a citizenry that is informed, engaged, and active. Questions about the program can be directed to LFI Interim Director Steve Masyada (Stephen.masyada@ucf.edu) or Civics Instructional Specialist Chris Spinale (Christopher.spinale@ucf.edu).