With the problems that the United States and the world face, it is important for students be prepared to step forward and be responsible citizens. Presently a large percentage of the American electorate is ill-informed about public issues and does not know how to engage in real discussion about public issues. The goals of the Civitas Active Citizenship Program are to:
- Elevate the conversation of civic discourse.
- Work to expand citizen participation in our voting process.
- Promote more transparency in how our political process actually works.
Towards that end Civitas sponsors Issues Roundtables and Discussion Groups throughout the school year. Now Civitas is helping bring those issues into the classroom with the Active Citizenship program. Twice a year, we bring knowledgeable people in the area of promoting participation and critical thinking in the political process to St. Louis area schools to interact with students in an engaging way.
Past projects include:
Fall 2016: Deciphering election babble with Ray Hartmann
Spring 2016: Maine Citizens for Clean Elections talking about Federally Funded Campaigns
Fall 2015: OpenSecrets.org discussing money in politics
