• Mission & Governance
• Services Overview
• How to Get Involved
• Standing Committees
• NCSL Foundation

• Issue Areas: A-Z
• State-Federal Relations
• NCSL Standing Committees
• News from D.C. and the States

• About State Legislatures
• Elections, Campaigns & Redistricting
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory
• Web Sites

• Online Guide to NCSL Services
• Staff Sections and Networks
• Meetings & Professional Development
• Staff Directories

• Meetings Calendar
• Online Registration
• Meetings Home Page
• Legislative Summit

• Bookstore
• State Legislatures Magazine
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory

 Trust for Representative Democracy

NCSL Annual Meeting 2001

5^th Annual We the People...Project Citizen
National Competition

42 States Represented

Project Citizen is a middle school civic education program that engages classes of students to identify public policy issues in their communities, learn about the issues, and propose action plans to address the chosen issues. Classes produce portfolios to present their work and conclusions about changing public policy in their communities. The class portfolios from each of the states had previously been judged at a state-level competition and won the honor of representing their state in a final round, the 5^th Annual National Showcase, held at NCSL's Annual Meeting August 11-15, 2001 in San Antonio, Texas. Members of state legislatures, legislative staff, educators, attorneys, and other interested citizens from around the country served as judges in this prestigious showcase.

NEWS RELEASE

August 23, 2001

Winner

NCSL Announces National Student Civic Award

DENVER - The National Conference of State Legislatures and Center for Civic Education, cosponsors of the nationwide civic education program We the People...Project Citizen, announce the winners of their national portfolio competition.

The winning entrees from middle school classes representing forty-two states were submitted for the 5^th Annual Project Citizen portfolio competition. Each class submitted a portfolio in which students identified a problem facing their community and developed an action plan to implement their proposed policy. In their portfolios, students proposed solutions for everything from the pollution of a local South Dakota lake to development of a child abuse awareness curriculum.

"Using a hands-on approach to public policy, Project Citizen has again proven to be a valuable lesson in civic education for each student involved," said Michael Fischer, Director of Project Citizen. "Whatever these students become, whether it be a doctor, small-business owner, policeman, farmer or teacher, hopefully they will remember that civic participation is the essence of democracy."

After an intense preliminary round of judging by legislators, attorneys, legislative staff, and educators, the top ten portfolio finalists were selected. From those finalists, first place winner, Desert Canyon Middle School from Scottsdale, Arizona, was selected for their project "Baby Abandonment--Bundles of Joy." Barre, Massachusetts Quabbin Regional Middle School's idea for improving safety in their community, titled "Safety on South Street," won second place. Monforton School, in Bozeman Montana, won third place for "Students for Community Service," which implemented community service into their school's curriculum. Other students receiving recognition as fourth place winners represented California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington. A complete list of winning schools can be found at http://www.civiced.org/.

Project Citizen is a middle school civics education program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, which promotes participation in state and local government by teaching students how to monitor and influence public policy and encourage civic participation.

For more information about this exciting program for middle school students, contact Karl Kurtz at NCSL (303) 364-7700 or, Michael Fischer at the Center for Civic Education (800) 350-4223.

Visitor counts for this page.