Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas Celebrates Civic Learning Week, March 11-15, 2024

March 11 2024

Montpelier, VT – Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas will join a nationwide effort this week to celebrate Civic Learning Week, an annual nonpartisan event that brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to highlight and promote the movement for civic education in communities across the nation. While civic engagement is so much more than voting, the focus on this year’s presidential primaries and election provides an unparalleled opportunity to shine a light on the importance of civic education and how it can be a unifying force in 2024 and beyond.

“Civics is more than dry facts about the three branches of government. Civics is also about being able to affect change, solve problems and make life better for all of us,” said Secretary Copeland Hanzas. “Individuals can only do so much on their own. Working together through civic participation allows us to accomplish more than any one person can do themselves.”

Copeland Hanzas has made civics education and engagement a central facet of her work since being elected Secretary in 2022. She re-started the office’s civics program and created an Education and Civic Engagement Coordinator (ECE) position in April 2023. Since then, the office has convened a Teacher Advisory Group to provide feedback and help develop K-12 civic education materials, partnered with the YMCA to administer a Youth Civic Health Survey at schools across the state, and created a civic education resource library on the Secretary of State’s website.

To find out more about the Vermont Secretary of State’s Civics Program, see our webpage at https://sos.vermont.gov/secretary-of-state-services/civics/.