HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS PRESENT PROJECTS AT ANNUAL ACTION CIVICS SHOWCASE

Mikva Challenge recently hosted their 17th Annual Action Civics Showcase where hundreds of teenagers from Chicago came together and presented the civic action projects they have been working on throughout the school year. Photo Credit: Mikva Challenge
Mikva Challenge recently hosted their 17th Annual Action Civics Showcase where hundreds of teenagers from Chicago came together and presented the civic action projects they have been working on throughout the school year. Photo Credit: Mikva Challenge

Hundreds Of Public School Students Present Projects At Annual Action Civics Showcase

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

As the school year comes to an end, Mikva Challenge recently partnered with the Chicago Public Schools’ Department of Social Science and Civic Engagement to host the 17th Annual Action Civics Showcase where three hundred teenagers from 60 public schools came together to present their ideas on how to solve problems in their neighborhoods.

Mikva Challenge is a nonprofit organization that works with youth across Chicago to help them become informed and active community leaders. The organization operates in-school programs that allow students to engage with civic action projects.

The purpose of the event was to celebrate the youth voices that participate in the Mikva Challenge programs and to showcase civic action projects that were created as a result of the Issues to Action curriculum that Mikva Challenge provides for schools in the greater Chicago area.

“The young people are the ones driving the action project. Everything you saw at the event and everything that was presented was put together by young people. Every school’s projects looked different because every school has different resources and every school has different starting points,” said Karla Castilla-Morin, Issues to Action program director for Mikva Challenge.

The Issues to Action program partners with teachers across Chicagoland and helps them to teach Action Civics to the students in their classroom. Over the course of the year, the students are asked to build projects that creatively address an issue they have identified in their school or their community and find ways to advocate for change.

The Action Civics Showcase is the yearly culminating event that allows students to share their projects with local leaders.

“My experience at Showcase made me feel like we are making a difference. In every school, there is a small group of students who actively use their voice. Today, all those groups are present in one case,” said an Action Civics Showcase student participant.

The students were able to view each other’s project and give feedback on what they thought the best part of each project was.

“This experience made me feel a lot better about our group. Seeing that there are other groups going through the same things and facing the same conflicts,” said an Action Civics Showcase student participant.

As a former participant in the Issues to Action program, Castilla-Morin knows the value of allowing young people to participate in conversations about their communities and even more so providing them with the tools to solve the problems they see.

“This is kind of a way for students to start figuring out what they care about in their community and especially for students at CPS. I feel like this is one of the first few times when they’re asked what they think should be done in their community,” said Castilla-Morin.

To learn more about Mikva Challenge visit www.mikvachallenge.org.

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