Democracy Schools Network

Monthly Update

March 2023

ON YOUR RADAR

DSN announcements, upcoming events, Professional Development opportunities, and information about activities in our Democracy Schools.

~CIVIC LEARNING ACROSS DISCIPLINES Webinar Series

Wednesday, April 5– Taking Informed Action with Data from the Illinois Democracy Schools: Dr. Kelly Siegel-Stechler, Senior Researcher at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement CIRCLE at Tufts University.

Thursday, April 20– Celebrating Our Successes: Hear from DSN members who have been the recipients of DSN grants during this past year to advance their civic learning goals. Here's a preview of the projects that will be shared:

Hinsdale S: Student-created idea for a career fair for our student body by partnering with local professionals and a Service Learning project to revitalize our courtyard at the school, which has fallen into disrepair.

Alton: A student-led initiative that brings a group of diverse students from all areas of the school together to identify problems and possible solutions in the high school.

Maine East and West: Student reps from all three schools in the district gather for a SOAR (Student Organization Against Racism) Retreat/Summit to provide space for students to collaborate and problem solve equity and belongingness issues at all schools including planning and executing lessons to feeder schools.

Collinsville: A cross-curricular project that serves the community and addresses the need for equal food distribution.

Morton West, Washington, Spoon River Valley, Normal West and Senn: Increase the number of civic conversations that happen in math classes by piloting components of the Citizen Math program.

Loyola: Developing a native biodiverse reflection garden that benefits school and community.

Grayslake North and Central: Collaborate with Loyola University staff to incorporate Culturally Responsive Teaching across our curriculum and develop strategies to strengthen the voice of our students of color and Latinx students.

Registration for both CLAD sessions is here.

~ILLINOIS CIVICS HUB Professional Development

April 26– Teaching Inclusive History with the Chicago History Museum—Challenging the Status Quo: Women in Chicago

For detailed description of session and registration, click here.

~ATTENTION SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS

If you would like to be kept current on current Social Studies standards, course mandates, and resources to support both, we invite you to sign up for the Illinois Civics Hub newsletter here.

SAVE THE DATE!!

DSN Annual Convening

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Hilton Doubletree, Lisle, IL

More details in the April Monthly Update!

~STUDENT VOICE

To further extend this year's CLAD webinar series' theme–Student Voice–we asked a few of our schools how they provided opportunities for student voice in their classrooms, schools, and communities. A couple of responses are below, and we'll feature more over the next couple of months.

Kristin Brandt, Glenbard West (2012)

We see opportunities for our students to be connected to the community in a number of ways. Here are a few highlights:

We invite local elected officials and staffers for congresspeople, who serve constituents, to guest speak over Zoom. Students get to ask questions and share information with individuals.
Our civic action projects in our government classes allow students options to serve in the community and/or advocate for policy issues of interest.
Through some of the English classes students participate in the student focused "Current Events Conversations", adding their voices to the online discussion. Several students are routinely highlighted in a New York Times forum.
A number of our clubs also result in student connections to the community, including "One Community," which helps to connect community members through a variety of methods. Several students meet monthly with community members to discuss issues surrounding race in our community and country.
We also had several students participate in One Community's Neighbor to Neighbor voices program where this year's theme focused on generational similarities and differences. Our art students worked with One Community last year to have their work displayed in local businesses. The work focused on the diversity of students in our community.

Donald Davis, George Washington (2017)

The Civics Team created a Mock Election ballot for the recent city elections. Students completed an assignment to make them familiar with the candidates and the government positions on the ballot. Students voted for mayor, 10th ward Alderman and Member of the Police District Council. "We had about 25% of our students participate in this mock election. Results showed students voting for a very wide variety of candidates, suggesting that students weighed their options before they made a choice."

PRACTICING CIVIC LEARNING ACROSS DISCIPLINES

A reminder that we have a significant archive of material that includes suggestions, resources, lesson plans, and presentations by experts for civic learning activities across all disciplines and areas of the school. Recording of webinars and blog posts are all listed here.

Enhance your classroom practice with these five-week, asynchronous, micro-credential courses hosted on Canvas. Explore strategies and resources to create a classroom climate in which there are equitable opportunities for ALL students to engage in the proven practices of civic education delineated in the middle and high school course requirements: current and controversial issue discussions, simulations of democratic processes, and informed action through service learning.

Bronze-level courses in all three practices (Current and Controversial Issue Discussion, Informed Action and Service Learning, Simulations of Democratic Practices) scheduled to begin on May 15. You can find registration information here.

Learn from academic experts like Dr. Diana Hess, Dr. Paula McAvoy, Dr. Joe Kahne, Dr. Jane Lo, Dr. Walter Parker, and more! Collaborate with fellow participants to support brave, civil, and reflective civic engagement.

More details are available on the Guardians of Democracy homepage. Those who successfully complete the five-week online course will earn a Bronze Certified Guardian of Democracy Educator badge via Badgr and the University of Central Florida Center for Distributive Learning. Participants can earn 15 PD hours through the DuPage Regional Office of Education for an additional fee.

There are three strands of courses for each proven practice of civics education. Graduate credit is available through the University of St. Francis for completing all three courses.

2022-23 DSN Advisory Council

John Aldworth, Maine West: North Cook and Chicago

Jason Janczak, Grayslake Central: Northern Illinois

Stacey Posey, Belleville West: Metro East

Pat Riley, J. Sterling Morton West: West Cook and Chicago

Nick Vassolo, Streamwood: Kane, Kendall and Will Counties

Deanna Wiist , Normal Central: Central and Southern Illinois

Whitney Wilda, Hinsdale Central: DuPage

Melinda Wilson, Curie: South Cook and Chicago

Check out our website for PD opportunities, resources and inspiration.

illinoiscivics.org