Civics Program

The Civics Program has a lot of exciting initiatives underway. Check back often for updates and don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Voter Outreach & Education:

Hosting a Voter Registration Drive in Vermont? Click here to download our guide and click here to download an order form for materials.

Civic Health Index:

We are convening a group of diverse partners to create Vermont’s first Civic Health Index. This will be done through a process created by the National Conference on Citizenship. This report will look at indicators related to voting and political participation, volunteering, philanthropy, and interactions with family and neighbors. We will join a list of over thirty-five states who have utilized this strategy to identify strengths and gaps in our civic health and create a list of recommendations for moving forward.

K-12 Initiatives:

School / Student Highlight: We love seeing civic engagement in action and want to help amplify this great work! If you are a principal or teacher who has a project, student organization, or student leader that you’d like to submit for a feature on our social media or in our newsletter, please fill out this form.

Teacher Advisory Group: This group, comprised of educators across the state, guides our K-12 initiatives. They are assisting with curriculum development and the creation of a resource hub for teachers. They will also provide our office with a better understanding of their needs and challenges so we can continue to identify avenues of support. Are you interested in getting involved? Please get in touch!

• National Resources:
• iCivics - Engaging and non-partisan civic education resources including lesson plans, games, videos, simulations and more. You can search by topic, grade level, and state standards!
• Center for Civic Education - high quality curricular materials and professional development to help students understand the principles, values, institutions, and history of constitutional democracy. Programs include We the People, Civics Empowers All Students, Project Citizen and more!
• Checkology - a free e-learning platform with engaging, authoritative lessons on media literacy. Learners develop the ability to identify credible information, seek out reliable sources and apply critical thinking skills to separate fact-based content from falsehoods.
• The Civics Center provides free training to enable students and educators to run voter registration drives in high schools.
• CIRCLE – Based at Tufts University, The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement. There are a number of timely reports and state-based statistics on their webpage.

• Vermont Resources:
• Request a Visit From the Secretary of State
• Freedom and Unity: A Graphic Guide to Civics and Democracy in Vermont – We are so proud of this collaboration with our office, the Center for Cartoon Studies, and Vermont Humanities. If you’d like copies to use in your classroom, please get in touch!
• Vermont State House Field Trip
• YMCA Youth and Government - a model state government assembly program for middle and high school students across the state.
• Christy Mihaly – Vermont based author who has written children’s books on the First Amendment and The Supreme Court. She offers a variety of themed classroom visits!

• Youth Opportunities and Awards:
• NASS John Lewis Youth Leadership Award
• Green Mountain Girls State - a leadership development program for rising high school seniors. The focus of the program is Vermont town, county, and state government.
• Green Mountain Boys State- a leadership development program for rising high school seniors. The focus of the program is Vermont town, county, and state government.
• Bernie Sanders State of the Union Essay Contest - high school students are invited to submit a 200–500 word essay focusing on what they believe is a major challenge facing our country and how they would solve it.
• Youth Councils – youth voice is so important! Vermont Afterschool supports the State Youth Council as well as local youth councils. Learn more about their work and how to get involved.

Campus Resources:

• Vermont Campus Voting Challenge seeks to increase student voter participating and engagement across Vermont. Follow the link to learn more and sign up!
• The Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) Coalition is the national hub and largest nonpartisan network in the United States dedicated to increasing college student voter participation.
• Newman Civic Fellowship - this year-long program supports college students to develop strategies for social change and creates a network of engaged student leaders. Students must be nominated by a college president or chancellor.