Minnesota Civic Youth
Research shows that few young people receive a high-quality social studies education, despite the key role social studies plays in preparing students for civic life. Active and responsible citizens identify and analyze public problems, respectfully deliberate with others, take constructive action together, reflect on their actions, and influence institutions. We support young people in developing the knowledge, skills and motivation to participate as invested stakeholders in civic life.
e) Civics Programs
$100,000 each year is for grants to the Minnesota Civic Education Coalition: Minnesota Civic Youth, the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation, and YMCA Youth in Government to conduct civics education programs for the civic and cultural development of Minnesota youth. Civics education is the study of constitutional principles and the democratic foundation of our national, state, and local institutions and the study of political processes and structures of government, grounded in the understanding of constitutional government under the rule of law.
We will hold two mini-conferences, one in partnership with the city of Minneapolis and the other in partnership with the city of Rochester. A total of approximately 100 participants will learn how to follow issues and advocate for positive change in their local jurisdictions. Youth participants will provide positive evaluations and indicate a desire and confidence for ongoing engagement with their local government.
In progress
e) Civics Programs
$100,000 each year is for grants to the Minnesota Civic Education Coalition: Minnesota Civic Youth, the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation, and YMCA Youth in Government to conduct civics education programs for the civic and cultural development of Minnesota youth. Civics education is the study of constitutional principles and the democratic foundation of our national, state, and local institutions and the study of political processes and structures of government, grounded in the understanding of constitutional government under the rule of law.
We will hold a mini-conference in partnership with the city of Minneapolis in fall 2021 with no fewer than 50 participants and no more than 100 participants to evaluate our program format, content and delivery and make any needed adjustments to be able to offer the program to other cities across Minnesota.
This project will teach high school youth about local government issues, functions, and structures in their jurisdiction through a hands-on two-day workshop. Originally we had hoped to research, plan and develop this workshop between January 2021 and July 31, 2021, and deliver it in August 2021. However, several factors led to us delaying deliver of the actual workshop until December 2021. Most notably, our city partner -- the Office of Minneapolis Elections -- had to deal with significant staffing issues and issues related to the ballot question around police reform during the spring and summer months. They also determined that recruiting young people and delivering a workshop prior to the November 2 election would be very difficult for them. As a result, we spread out the research and development process and used the extra time to engage one of our younger team members who had not been through a program development process. We felt that the longer development timeline gave us more time to research program models that may have been helpful as well as spend time discussing all the elements of successful program design. For instance, it's not good enough just to develop a program that has good content -- others have to be interested in that content, the content has to be presented at their level and in an engaging way, the program has to be priced in such a way that your intended audience can afford it but you also have to cover expenses, etc.
We adjusted our timeline so that we would develop a workshop plan, agenda, activities, and materials and hold a weekend conference in partnership with the city of Minneapolis in December 2021. This first conference will serve between 40-50 participants; we will use it to evaluate our program format, content, and delivery. Following the conference, we will make any needed adjustments and offer the workshop to youth in other cities across Minnesota.