"We The People" Center for Civic Education

Center for Civic Education

The primary goal of “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” is to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s elementary and secondary students. The ALA is privileged to have representation on the National Advisory Committee of the “We the People” program.

ALA is invited to attend the National Finals, which is a simulated congressional hearing in which students “testify” before a panel of Judges on Capitol Hill. It is so inspiring to witness high school seniors from all over the country speak, debate and answer questions from experts in the field of civic education.

The Center for Civic Education also puts information about the ALA Teacher of the Year contest on their website, www.civiced.org.

It is the goal of ALA to encourage ways that ALA can have more interaction with the Center so that our law-related mandate can be more fully realized. We are asking our state and local auxiliaries to become more involved with “We the People” programs in their local school districts. There is always a need for volunteers to act as timers, facilitators and judges at the local and state levels.

For more information about other projects of the Center for Civic Education, and to learn who the “We the People” coordinator is for your state, please go to their website www.civiced.org.

“60-Second Civics” Podcasts to Focus on Right to Vote

The Center for Civic Education has launched a nationwide initiative to focus its signature daily program, “60-Second Civics,” on the right to vote in the weeks leading up to the November 3 national elections. Each day, 60-Second Civics will feature a podcast focused on voting, elections and representation and how those rights are protected under the Constitution. Each episode will be accompanied by a Daily Civics Quiz, which teachers can use with the podcast as a warmup activity at the start of their history, government or social studies classes. The podcast will also include an audiogram, which is a captioned video animation of each episode.

Check Out the Latest Podcast
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