If recent developments in American democracy have shown us anything, it is that our electorate needs to become more informed and engaged. This is what Civitas is all about: active citizenship. In that spirit, Civitas has created the Game Changers Program for high school students. It is unique because it does not place additional demands on stressed out students; rather it offers enriching optional experiences them throughout the school year.
The lifeblood of Civitas is engaging conversations, not test scores or even projects completed. The Civitas mandate is to provide interesting activities for students, ones that can stand on their own and provide opportunities for further discussion beyond the time constraints of the event.
While you are not graded at Civitas, you are acknowledged for your contributions to the Civitas community. You will receive a certificate of participation if you earn at least ten points from your efforts during the year. Here’s how you can earn points (one point each):
- Attending Civitas events
- Organizing a Civitas chapter at your school
- Working with the Civitas staff to plan activities
- Bringing new friends to Civitas activities (up to two points)
- Contributing writing to the new Civitas blog.
If you earn ten points or more, a copy of your certificate will be sent to your advisors and college counselor at your high school so your accomplishments can become part of your permanent transcript. We also have an end-of-year special event for Game Changers. You will also be invited to our special paid summer internship program. For more details on our summer interns click here.
During the course of each school year, Civitas will offer at least twenty events. These include:
- Model United Nations sessions
- A country draft for the Model United Nation program
- Prep sessions for Model United Nations
- Saturday field trips
- Issues Roundtables (with guest presenters)
- Open Forums (discussions on topics of students’ choosing)
- Movie nights and trivia nights
Civitas Game Changers is a safe haven where students can come and get engaged in the public forum without having additional demands placed upon their time and psyche. They can learn for the sake of learning and do with that information what makes most sense to them.