September 2013

Civic Life Project60 Furnace Brook Road

Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754 - 860 672 3395www.civiclifeproject.org

Civic Life Project is a 501 (c) 3 Not for Profit Corporation – Federal ID# 45-3455554

CIVIC LIFE PROJECTVISION-MISSION

VisionCivics and the teaching of government is less of a science than it is a story of what happens when ordinary people struggle to find solutions to everyday problems and realize dearly held dreams.

Mission The Civic Life Project was created to engage and motivate today’s high school and college students to connect with the fundamentals of our democracy and Constitution such that they not only understand the importance of civic issues, but also recognize their own ability to analyze, evaluate and establish a position on those issues, participate in a dialog concerning them and affect change.

Strategy• Capture the imagination of young people by distilling the “dry” science of civics down

to stories of real people with real issues.

• Make use of the technology that is already exciting and familiar in order to empower them to express a viewpoint and bring these stories to life.

• Turn the classroom into a laboratory for Civics

Tactics• Hold workshops for teachers outlining course details of Civic Life Project.

• Provide lesson plans and activities designed to augment Civics courses and incorporate documentary filmmaking techniques.

• Initiate a dialog with students relating the Constitution to “real people, real stories” within their own communities.

• Assemble teams of students to investigate and study an issue of particular interest and develop a viewpoint on the issue.

• Provide instruction on how to research, frame the subject, interview individuals.

• Provide instruction on how to produce and script a documentary film.

• Include on-site work sessions with Civic Life Project staff including directors, cinematographers, journalists, reporters.

• Produce an 8 to 12 minute video on the issue for public presentation to peers, teachers, community members and public officials.

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CIVIC LIFE PROJECTCURRICULUM OVERVIEW

The Civic Life Project was created to engage and motivate today’s high school students to connect with the fundamentals of our democracy and Constitution. We want the students to not only understand the importance of civic issues, but also recognize their own ability to analyze, evaluate and establish a position on those issues, participate in a dialog concerning them and affect change.

CLP can be part of a regular civics course, used as a stand-alone capstone project, or in connection with other social studies courses. We require that students receive a grade and credit for their participation in the course. Teachers are not required to have any prior knowledge of any aspect of the filmmaking process. We augment the traditional classroom experience with sessions led by a CLP staff member in both the fall and spring term as outlined below. The CLP staff is comprised of professionals with backgrounds in film, television, journalism and academia.

Following a benchmarked curriculum, students initiate research, conduct interviews, and investigate topics of their own choice to examine all sides of a story. Their next step is to script, produce and edit an 8-12 minute film and then present the film in public forums.

The course is broken into two semesters:

The Fall Semester is the Civics Laboratory portion

The Spring Semester is the Film Production portion

A sample of the first-year complete Civic Life Project course is outlined on pages 5 and 6. In-School, GoToMeeting and All State Meeting Sessions will be taught by Civic Life Project staff. For the Traditional Classroom Teacher Sessions, the classroom teacher of each participating school follows suggested activities on CLP-prepared lesson plans to accomplish the set lesson objectives.

As the needs of each school differ, Civic Life Project will work with each administration to design the best model for each of the first three years of the program. Cost structures depend on the number of sessions taught by Civic Life Project staff that are requested and the number of students enrolled in the course. After three years of participation in the program, session costs will be presented on an a la carte basis - to best support school staff who have participated and been trained during the prior three years.

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THE SAMPLE OF A COMPLETE CIVIC LIFE PROJECT FIRST YEAR COURSE INCLUDES:

3 All Schools Workshops (9:15 AM - 1:00 PM)

October Introductory Meeting – Constitution, Civic Engagement, Finding a Story

December Pre Production and Production Workshops. Peer–to-Peer Treatment

Presentations, Interview Skills, Camera/Lighting/Sound Workshops,

February Screening the Rough Cuts

10 In-School Classroom Sessions with CLP Staff

6 Sessions in Fall Term

4 Sessions in Spring Term

Filming Sessions

Assistance with Shoots in January

Website and Social Media Tools

Dedicated social website at www.civiclifeproject.com

Screenings

1 All-Schools Film Screening in May

1 Local Community Screening in May

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OverviewThis two hour In-School Session will be an introduction to the Civic Life Project and its mission. Students will be introduced to the curriculum, course objectives, time commitments and work expectations. Additionally, students will be given the opportunity to view a completed student film project, review rubrics for the written work and the technical deliverables of the project, as well as be introduced to the social media tools that supplement the classes.

Lesson Objectives Students will

understand what a documentary is and will identify the principal elements of a documentary.

Students will understand the goals of the Civic Life Project.

Students will commit to the project and understand the work expectations.

Students will understand the Civic Life Process and Timeline.

Students will be able to identify their prospective audience(s).

Students will learn how to use the Civic Life Project website and social media tools.

Students will perform a self-

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CIVIC LIFE PROJECTSAMPLE LESSON PLAN

Fall Semester - Week 1 and Week 2INTRODUCTION TO THE CIVIC LIFE PROJECT AND DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING

Grades:9-12

Lesson Time Allotment & Location:One 120 minute Individual In-School Session with CLP Staff (In-School Field Trip)

Materials:Forms:CLP Student AgreementCLP Student Information FormCLP Student Appearance ReleaseHandouts:CLP First Semester CalendarCLP First Semester SyllabusCLP First Semester GlossaryCLP Contact Information SheetDocumentary: Principle Elements ChecklistCivic Laboratory & Production Notebook OutlineCLP Final Film Treatment RubricCLP Final Research Paper RubricCLP Final Film ChecklistCLP Final Documentary Film RubricCivic Engagement & Understanding SurveyOther:DVD Player & Television or Projection ScreenSample CLP Student Film: Kiss & Chaos/The D WordComputer – Internet Access & Projection ScreenPowerPoint Presentation – Mechanics of a DocumentaryFlip Video CamerasCivic Laboratory & Production Notebook Sample

Lesson Vocabulary:CivicsCivics Laboratory & Production NotebookDemocracyDocumentaryDramatic DocumentaryExpository DocumentaryObservational DocumentaryParticipatory DocumentaryRepublic

Standards:

assessment of current civic engagement and civic understanding.

Activities Introduction to the Civic Life Project and Its Mission. Introduction to Flip Video - Student Volunteers Record

Meeting. Define Civics, Democracy, and Republic. Civic Engagement & Understanding Survey. PowerPoint Presentation – Mechanics of a Documentary.

Screening of CLP Student Film – Kiss & Chaos/The D Word Students Discuss, Critique and Analyze – Kiss & Chaos/The

D Word. Present Student Agreements, Calendar, Syllabus, Glossary,

Legal Paperwork. Introduce CLP Website – Sign Up Fake Student, Upload

Video and Picture. Post a Blog, Introduce School Pages. Discuss GoToMeeting Conferencing Software. Explain Civics Laboratory & Production Notebook – Show

Sample. Discuss Final Screenings and Prospective Audiences. Handout Rubrics for Writing Deliverables & Final Film.

AssessmentBlog:

Each student should please answer the following on your school group blog on the CLP website: What does civics mean to you and why is it important? What aspects of the Civic Life Project are you most interested in/excited about and why? What questions do you still have about the course?

Notebook:Each student must identify and list 5 possible topics of interest for a Civic Life Project Film

Worksheets to Complete and Hand-In to Classroom Teacher:

CLP Student AgreementCLP Student Information FormCLP Student Appearance Release

Other: All students must sign-up for Civic Life Project Website, personalize his/her page and join their school group already set-up on the site.

COST STRUCTURE

The cost to bring the Civic Life Project to your school is tailored to each school. The average cost is $1,062 per student for the full year program. CLP may provide grants to cover a portion of the program cost for your school depending on grant availability and your particular needs and circumstances.

CLP provides:

• Instruction for a minimum of five and a maximum of 24 students. • CLP Course materials online.• Two DVD’s of Final Film(s).• On-line/Phone support for students and teachers.

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The school provides:

• Transportation to/from the 3 All schools meetings + final presentation + interviews/shoots

• Services of a teacher who will work with CLP students on a regular basis during both semesters and provide grades to CLP for project deliverables.

• Course Credit Issued to students enrolled in the Civic Life Project• Reports to CLP of student demographics for project funders. • Completion of CLP end-of-year grant report. • IT access for participating students and teachers to CLP website and

Learning Management System.

CIVIC LIFE PROJECTSTAFF - BIOGRAPHIES

DOMINIQUE LASSEUR – Executive Director/Co-FounderDominique Lasseur is a producer of film and television, and a partner with his wife Catherine Tatge in Global Village Media. With numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad, his work has embraced performance, performance documentaries, biographical profiles, news and public affairs, and informational programming. From Holo Mai Pele—a dance/performance special on PBS’ Great Performances —and a series entitled Dances of Life, he also produced Breaking the Silence: Journeys of Hope, a PBS special on domestic violence, as well as special programming for the Pew Charitable Trust, Harvard Business School, and Fred Friendly Seminars. Other projects include Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories and The Question of God: C.S. Lewis & Sigmund Freud.

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CATHERINE TATGE – Creative Director/Co-FounderCatherine Tatge is a producer and director of film and television. For over 25 years, her work has encompassed many genres, from public affairs, performance and dance, to biographies and the world of ideas. She influenced American television as producer and director of Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers, for which she received an Emmy Award. Ms. Tatge’s close working relationship with Bill Moyers led to many projects: the ten-hour Genesis: A Living Conversation; the two-hour special Fooling with Words and the series Sounds of Poetry, both documenting the largest poetry event in the United States; the special What Can We Do About Violence; three programs on the nature of hate—Beyond Hate, Facing Hate with Elie Wiesel, and Hate on Trial; and numerous interviews on Moyers: A World of Ideas. Her most recent work for PBS' American Masters series, John Muir in the New World, aired on April 18, 2011. In her career, she has tackled important and controversial public affairs issues, as she does in Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories. Her talent for translating intellectual material to the screen includes numerous works about spirit and the human condition – including her series, The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis, and The Creative Spirit for PBS.

GRETCHEN BABAROVIC – Project CoordinatorGretchen Babarovic was Executive Assistant to ABC News anchor Peter Jennings from 1983 to his death in 2005. As his right hand, she was involved in every aspect of his professional life from the gathering of the nightly news to his documentary productions. She did the administration for his second book In Search of America and researched material for his speaking engagements. Traveling the world with the broadcast allowed her to experience a front row seat to history which fueled her curiosity and allowed her to develop a unique perspective of the world and deep appreciation for the democratic process. In 2007, she was asked by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to produce an inaugural dinner for their Center of Excellence's new Oral History Department. The following year, she became Project Director for The Connecticut Project For the Constitution - a center for education and dialogue seeking to educate Americans about the importance of the Constitution's intersection with every day lives. .Ms. Babarovic is a graduate of Cornell University. Both her daughter and son in law are journalistsBEN WILLIS – PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Ben Willis serves as the Production Coordinator at the Civic Life Project, assisting students and teachers throughout the production process. Prior to joining the Civic Life Project, Ben worked as an Associate-Producer on the award-winning documentary Best Worst Movie, and more recently for NBC on the documentary The American Scream. Ben has also worked as an Assistant Director on various independent feature films, web series, and short films. Ben began working on documentaries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he worked with National Endowment of the Arts Fellow Michael Pettit on his documentary Living Traditions: Folk Art of New MexicoBen is a graduate of Connecticut’s Film Industry Training Program, and holds a BA in Moving Image Arts from The College of Santa Fe.

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DAVID BAYERSDORFER - Academic Consultant

David Bayersdorfer was a public school Social Studies teacher for over forty years. During his 33 years of teaching at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, he also served as Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Interim Principal at various times.  David received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and Master Degrees from Central Connecticut State University and Southern Connecticut University.  He has served on the Planning and Zoning Board in the town of Salisbury and ran the town's Summer Job program.  Currently. He serves on the Assessment Board of Appeals.  He is also a board member of the Salisbury Association, as well as the 21st Century Fund.  He teaches various courses for the Taconic Learning Center (including courses on Theodore Roosevelt, the Vietnam War and Charles Lindbergh). In his spare time, he has acted in over 15 plays at the TriArts Sharon Playhouse.

DOUGLAS BRANSON – Video Production and Technical Instructor

Douglas Branson is a graphic designer, photographer, filmmaker, editor, and performer and has worked in Philadelphia, NYC, and Connecticut producing multimedia since 1984.  A graduate of The Art Institute of Philadelphia Branson started his career in advertising and publishing.  He then worked in Audio and Video Production and built his own professional home recording studio.  Douglas has designed and built sets, operated cameras, done on location sound, produced short promotional films and commercials. His Photoshop image preparation and formatting skills are used by other production companies in Commercials, Documentaries, and Films. 

WILLIAM LITTAUER - Production Instructor

Bill Littauer had a 50-year career in broadcast news. He was a reporter, anchor, producer and Executive Producer of television news programs in Washington and New York.  He won the Emmy Award as Executive Producer of the Outstanding News Broadcast in New York three times.  He has produced both hour-long news specials and hundreds of daily reports on politics, civil rights, business and finance.  He was the Executive Producer of Independent Network News which ran on as many as 150 stations from 1980 to 1990.  He was the first Executive Producer of The Wall Street Journal Report when it was a joint venture of Tribune Company and The Wall Street Journal. As a reporter, he covered the civil rights movement of the 60s, the anti-war protests of the 60s and 70s and the recessions and inflation of the 80s. For 20 years, he was President of American Television News, Inc. a video production company in New York City providing video services to television networks and independent producers from around the world.

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CIVIC LIFE PROJECTBOARD OF DIRECTORS

ROY B. ASSAD (Chair)Founder – Executive DirectorThe Human Capital Group, LLCWest Palm Beach, Florida 33401

JILL BECKFormer PresidentLawrence UniversityAppleton, WI

DAVID BURSTEINFounder and Executive Director18 in 2008New York, NY 10009

LISA CARTERPrincipal Salisbury School

DAN DWYER (Vice Chair)President, Johnnycake Books Inc.Salisbury, CT

REMINGTON TONARSiegel Vision, Inc.

PATRICIA REDD JOHNSON Senior Associate Director of Admission and Coordinator of Multicultural Outreach The Hotchkiss School

CHARLENE LAVOIE (Secretary)AttorneyOffice of the Community LawyerWinsted, CT 06098

JAMIE LEHRERDirector of DevelopmentThe New GroupNew York, NY

J. SAMUEL RAY (Treasurer)Business Executive (Ret.)New Jersey

SCOTT ROBSONAttorneySan Francisco, CA

EMILY SOELLAdvertising Executive (Ret.)Salisbury, CT

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CIVIC LIFE PROJECTADVISORY COUNCIL

SUSAN ENGEL, Ph.D.Director, Program in TeachingWilliams College, MA

JACK HEALYPresident and Chief Executive OfficerUnited Way of Greater New Haven, CT

RUTH KAPLANExecutive Director,Public Affairs and Marketing,Syracuse UniversityNew York, NY

FRANNI LUNDYProject Manager, Employment Stability InitiativeCornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, NY

JAY MILESTeacherNew Haven, CT

PARKER PALMER, Ph.D.Founder/Senior PartnerCenter for Courage and RenewalMadison, WI

BILL MOYERSBroadcast JournalistNew York, NY

TERRY PEARCEFounder & PresidentLeadership CommunicationLarkspur, CA

FRANK SESNODirector,School of Media and Public AffairsThe George Washington UniversityWashington, DC

PAMELA TATGEDirectorCenter for the ArtsWesleyan UniversityMiddleton, CT

SARAH WILLIAMSCEOSpeak International LLCNew York, NY

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CIVIC LIFE PROJECTPRESS

Friday, April 30, 2010

Reg. 1 Films Examine Rights

By Scott Robson

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It’s a story of incredible significance, an object of study and reverence for over two centuries. It’s the supreme law of our nation, the handwritten essence of America distilled onto weathered parchment. The United States Constitution and its 27 amendments lay the grounds for our freedoms, our responsibilities and our guaranteed protections as citizens of the United States.

The Constitution’s importance is impressed upon American children from a very early age; elementary schoolers memorize its bold, declarative first words “We the people …” as a matter of patriotism. Middle schoolers, to their parents’ dismay, learn of the right to free speech. Yet by high school, awareness of current events and media exposure often lead to jaded disillusionment or apathy.

In May, student filmmakers at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village will strike a blow against teenage political ennui. “The Constitution in our Midst,” a student-produced documentary film project in collaboration with Global Village Media and the Connecticut Project for the Constitution, will screen two student films at the Salisbury Forum and the Westport Film Festival. These documentaries will delve into constitutional issues through the lens of student rights. The films focus on contemporary local controversies that speak to greater issues of rights to free speech, freedom of the press, and other freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

One film focuses on the speech rights implicated in the recent case raised by Avery Doninger, a Connecticut high school senior, who was prevented from participating in student government after she made public remarks criticizing her school’s administrators on her blog. The other film investigates the controversial decision made by some school districts, including the Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s Region 1, to not air an address made by President Obama last September to the nation’s school children.

The films will be screened publicly at the Salisbury Forum May 14 and at the Westport Youth Film Festival May 7. At both screenings, the filmmakers will be present to field questions and engage the audience in a lively, town-hall style discussion of the issues presented.

By delving into applicable local issues, both documentaries aim to re-engage students in the important arenas of political awareness and citizenship. By visually demonstrating how the Constitution interacts with the students’ local communities, these films are intended to spark public discourse between the student filmmakers and their audiences. Communication and exchange of ideas in a public context are crucial to the success of a participatory democracy. And by directly engaging in the work of public discussion, these filmmakers are practicing what they preach.

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For professional film producers Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur of Global Village Media, actual engagement with the constitutional issues presented by the films is crucial.

“The project, “The Constitution in Our Midst,” is part of The Civic Life Project that we’ve started at Global Village Media,” said Mr. Lasseur. “We’ve joined forces with [The Connecticut Project for the Constitution] to promote a greater understanding of the Constitution and our democracy.”

“We tested the project in a private school model first, at the Hotchkiss School [in Lakeville],” he said. “We’ve mainly been investigating the Bill of Rights, as works very well suited for classroom instruction. Film-wise, the bill also lends itself to short film production and narrative. It’s not so easy to do the separation of powers in that format,” he laughed.

TCEXTRA.COM

CORNWALLStudents use the Housatonic River to learn about media and new technology By KAREN BARTOMIOLI04/30

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CORNWALL — Over the course of many cold winter weeks, students from The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville traipsed up and down the shores of the Housatonic River, a film crew in tow. They conducted interviews. They traveled to Pittsfield, Mass., to film children on a school playground near mounds of dirt scooped from the river, still contaminated with PCBs from unclean disposal practices years ago at the General Electric plant there.

Scenes aimed at displaying the beauty of the river were filmed near the Covered Bridge in Cornwall. There are many scenic spots along the river, but the choice of Cornwall as the location for the “beauty scenes” isn’t all that surprising — especially since the driving force behind the project is Global Village Media, a nonprofit organization founded by Cornwall residents Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur.

Global Village was founded in 1986 by the award-winning filmmakers (and husband and wife) under the name International Cultural Programming. The name was changed in 2007 and the company was reinvented to incorporate new technologies that engage young people, such as digital media. Its mission has remained the same: to “tell powerful and distinctive stories that engage, inform and unite a global audience.”

Global Village Media has earned more than 40 awards, including an Emmy and the Dupont-Columbia Award.

Environmental issues were, certainly, an important part of this recent look at the ongoing issue of PCBs in the Housatonic; but really it was a secondary goal of the documentary. The focus here was primarily on learning to use media to explore an issue from all perspectives.

“It’s part of a larger project called Civic Life, in which we are trying to teach students about democracy and civil engagement,” Lasseur told The Journal. “Ultimately, we want to put together a series for broadcast on the Bill of Rights. Surveys show that about 80 percent of college students don’t even know what the Bill of Rights is.”

The goal of the project with Hotchkiss was to produce an eight- to 12-minute film that takes a local issue and looks at the roles of agencies and local government as well as individuals.

The documentary premiered at Hotchkiss Friday, April 24, during the 2009 Americas Region Round Square Conference, attended by students and educators from as far away as Peru.

They watched as the film juxtaposed cameos of students talking about democracy over exterior scenes, including the GE plant in Pittsfield that was the source of the contamination.

Among those interviewed were state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30), Lynn Werner, director of the environmentally minded Housatonic Valley Association, and lifelong Cornwall resident Ralph Gold. Each of the interview subjects ended up on screen for mere seconds — as is often the case with filmmaking (especially when the film can’t exceed 12 minutes).

Gold recalled learning about pollution in the river back when he was a child and used to sneak down to the river to fish. “We weren’t supposed to eat the fish, but we did anyway,” he said.

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Part of the plan to show the film during the conference was to spark competition for more filmmaking for next year’s Round Square conference, which will be held in India.

Robert Haiko, head of the film and photography department at Hotchkiss, had high praise for the film and the process behind it. He said it would surely open the door to more projects such as this at the school.

“The classroom has lagged behind using media as a tool for exploring issues,” Lasseur said. “There is a disconnect, because as soon as the students leave the classroom, they are on the Internet. We want to use it to give them the tools and the knowledge to go after issues of substance.”

While Tatge and Lasseur have been working with high school and college students on the democracy project for years, it was the 2008 presidential election that provided a powerful new motivator for the students.

“It was the quality of debate that really engaged them. But it also showed that there was little working knowledge [among students] of the political process.”

A blog-style Web site has been created to provide an audience for young filmmakers. At civiclifeproject.com, they can post film clips, describe their experiences in making the films and interact with others who want to have a voice.

Tatge and Lasseur said their hope is to engage more area schools in the project. © Copyright 2009 by TCExtra.com

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Lakeville Journal

Students learn civics lesson

Thu, 05/31/2012

By Colby Pastre

FALLS VILLAGE — Students from Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) traveled to the state Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Thursday, May 24, to present a documentary film about Occupy Wall Street.

The students created the film as part of the Civic Life Project, an educational initiative that was started by Dominique Lasseur and Catherine Tatge, who are Cornwall residents, parents of recent HVRHS alumnus Julien Lasseur and award-winning documentary filmmakers.

The program began in the classroom, where students studied the structure of United States law and democracy, and ended in the production and screening of a short documentary film about an important civic issue in the community.

“Students don’t always feel that they have a voice,” Lasseur explained. “The Civic Life Project is about giving students the opportunity to get the vocabulary that they need to make a difference and find their voice.”

Students worked on their film in and outside of the classroom, guided by HVRHS teachers including social studies teachers Lisa Carter and Peter Vermilyea and film studies teacher Damon Osora.

They received school credit for their work in civics, film studies and independent studies classes. Next year, Lasseur said, the project will be even more heavily integrated with the high school curriculum.Although Housatonic was one of the original schools to support the Civic Life Project, the initiative has expanded statewide to include Common Ground High School in New Haven, East Haven High School, The Gilbert School in Winsted, Hartford Public High School, Norwalk High School and Torrington High School. All the schools took part in the screening in Hartford.

Topics covered by other high schools included immigration, “hate speech” and First Amendment rights. The Civic Life Project also establishes networks of students willing to make a change. “One of the best things about the project is that students that don’t usually have things in common come together. It gives me a great sense of optimism,” said Lasseur.

Over the course of the project students from the high schools met four times at locations throughout the state to discuss their films and the issues that inspired them.

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Students responding to a survey about the program said it was a lot of work but a positive experience. “It was challenging, stepping outside of your comfort zone to do what needs to be done,” one student said. “I have trouble voicing my opinions and standing up for myself,” said another. “The Civic Life Project has greatly affected that.”

Civic Life Project films will be presented again at the Westport Youth Film Festival June 2 at the Bijou Theater in Bridgeport, CT

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TESTIMONIALS

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School Administrators/Teachers

Thank you for all your valuable time and extensive effort.  I am most impressed with your interactions with students – Students were excited, interested, thinking and talking, sharing ideas, working as a team

Patricia Chamberlain, Superintendent Region 1 Connecticut

Thank you for your amazing dedication and passion. Your mentorship is a gift to everyone!

Dr. Gretchen Foster, Principal HVRHS

Your general mission is of the highest importance and urgency. My respect to you both…

Manjula Salomon, The Hotchkiss SchoolAsst. Head of School Director of Global Initiatives

Many thanks for this. Your creativity is impressive

Malcolm McKenzie, Head of SchoolThe Hotchkiss School

The benefits are extraordinary. That responsibility for creating something good and that is representative of what they want to say is an opportunity that we don’t get to offer in a regular classroom

Lisa CarterPrincipal, The Salisbury School

Civic Life allows us to turn the classroom into a laboratory for civics.

Peter VermyleaTeacher

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TESTIMONIALS

Students

I am obligated to speak up after this. I wasn’t outspoken in my school or community. Now I know that I can do that, that I have the right to do that.

I know a lot more about our democratic system and how it actually works.

I plan to get involved in local issues more

I liked the opportunity to work on a meaningful project outside of my schoolwork and work with professionals.

Not only did I learn a lot about filmmaking, but I also learned about my community and ways to get involved.

I thought that it was way more complicated to get your voice heard, and I thought I was too young to do anything. Now […] I see that you don't need a vote to make a difference, you just need to be passionate and care about your issue. I learned that there are more ways to affect change than simply voting or writing a letter to my elected official.

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