In 2018, Junior Civic Trustee Bradley Gonmiah and two Civic Trustees from Newark, NJ made a proposal to the school board: the mandatory Social Studies course in Newark public high schools should include training in Citizen Leadership from The Citizens Campaign. The school board voted unanimously to approve their proposal, and schools in Perth Amboy, Trenton, and Philadelphia are following their lead.
“We begin to create a pipeline from high school to university to get people to understand civically how they should be engaged, what are the processes that exist.” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka
Citizen Leadership Training for High School teaches students to become No-Blame Problem Solvers, so that they are not only prepared to evaluate candidates and vote when they turn 18, but to participate in government decisions about their communities for a lifetime.
Register in the Citizen Power Portal for free to get access to our Teacher Toolkit, including sample lesson plans, project instructions, and more.
For more information, reach out to our curriculum designer, Joanna Kenty, at joanna@thecitizenscampaign.org
In a survey of 690 Newark students who took the training, 53% said that they were more likely to participate in government decision-making as a result.
“Now, all of our students will learn how to drive their government and the skills to work for a better future for Newark, New Jersey, this great country, and the world.” Newark Superintendent of Schools Roger León
High School Toolkit
Everything teachers need to empower their students is in the Power Civics Toolkit, High School Edition, including the essential how-to citizens’ leadership manual, Citizen Power, published by Rutgers University Press.
Toolkits can be viewed by teachers and purchased as part of a Power Civics sponsorship for your school.