NEWS

Local angles: Ashe, Buncombe, Cumberland,
Guilford, Harnett, Henderson, Hertford, Hoke, Lee,
Mecklenburg, Robeson, and Wake counties.

Civic education program awards grants to eleven groups statewide

CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a statewide partnership based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government at, has awarded grants to 11 organizations that help young people become active, knowledgeable citizens.

Since 1998, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem has provided funding for the program. Major criteria for selecting recipients included direct involvement of youth in local government or service-based programs as well as collaboration with various community or school organizations. Over the past six years, the consortium has awarded grants totaling $287,000 to 49 programs across the state. With this year’s awards, the grants have reached an estimated 100,000 plus youths.

"This program has allowed us to identify and support some of the most promising civic education programs and to reach nearly all counties in the state," said Debra Henzey, executive director of the consortium.

The 2003-04 recipients are:

· Civic Spirit (Cumberland County Schools), $5,000. Cumberland County Schools will incorporate a curriculum in the third through fifth grades. The program will reach more than 6,000 students and provide teachers with training on how to integrate a civics curriculum into classroom activities. The curriculum helps students and teachers to view their community as a civics learning lab, encouraging students to value democracy and to exercise both their rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

· Community Input Counts (The Health Adventure in Collaboration with Kids Voting/Buncombe County), $7,500. This program educates teachers on the link between science and civics, as well as increases the civic literacy of as many as 95,000 museum visitors. The program provides a kiosk to gauge and increase knowledge of civic issues. The model will be disseminated to other Kids Voting sites and science museums across North Carolina and beyond.

· Engaging Young Vietnamese-Americans in Community Services (Boat People S.O.S. Inc.), $5,000. Boat People S.O.S will teach 10 Vietnamese-American youth how to plan and organize events, conduct surveys and learn about the Community Service Block Grants and Community Development Block Grant programs. Participants will work closely with local colleges and nonprofit organizations in Wake County to document challenges and meet the needs of the Vietnamese-American community.

· Examining Moral Issues and Civic Responsibilities in Local Government (University of North Carolina at Asheville), $7,000. This program helps students and future teachers explore the duties of holding office through the study of local government. More than 80 fourth-grade and eighth-grade students will benefit. Activities will include: learning interviewing skills; studying city council and county commissioner forms of government; interviewing and observing city and county government officials; sharing findings with other students and educators; and hosting a public forum on civic education.

· Hertford County Then & Now (Hertford County Middle School), $5,000. This program will educate eighth-grade students about Hertford County government and nurture their civic skills. Nearly 45 students will participate by shadowing directors of county departments, holding mock meetings and making recommendations to county commissioners. A research project will involve the middle school media center, county government, public libraries and a field trip to the state archives in Raleigh.

· Implementation of Civic Action Plan (The Project 540° Leadership Team at Ashe County High School), $2,700. Ashe County High School will implement a civic action plan developed by students during the previous school year. The project includes recommendations on cultivating civic participation among nearly 1,000 youth through collaborative activities, community revitalization and community service. This grant will support funding for the arts and community service, as well as student life issues. In 2002-03, the school participated in Project 540°, a program sponsored by the consortium in 20 high schools across the state.

· Kids Voting 2004 - Increasing Civic Engagement (Kids Voting), $6,000. Kids Voting affiliates in Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake counties were awarded $6,000 to provide 10,000 K-12 classrooms in their counties with CD-ROMs containing complete sets of Kids Voting information. These CDs include age-specific activities that teach students about decision-making, voting rights, election procedures, and government. The project incorporates supplementary activities including service-learning lessons.

· Latino Leadership for Young Women (American Association of University Women - AAUW Hendersonville Branch), $3,800. This weekly program will involve Latino girls from eighth grade through high school. Designed for Latino culture, the program encourages girls to graduate from high school, take the SAT, complete a college degree, vote and engage in community activities. The project aims to build leadership skills that will help students meet their educational goals and become active citizens. This five-year pilot incorporates facilitators and collaborators from groups including the YMCA, Girl Scouts and Blue Ridge Community College.

· Link 2 Learn (Wade Edwards Foundation), $5,000. This grant will support an intergenerational technology-training program that encourages 50 young people to develop a learning partnership with Wake County senior citizens. Goals include developing computer skills among students and low-income retirement home residents and building community through these relationships. Participants will consider public policy questions, including education, Social Security, technology and residential options for seniors. The project creates new ways for older adults to stay connected and appreciate the perspective of a younger generation, while giving each senior citizen a personal technology consultant.

· Youth Civics Awareness Project (The Hispanic/Latino Center, Inc.), $8,000. The Hispanic/Latino Center, Inc. will implement a program based on a national curriculum. Twenty-five Hispanic/Latino youth in Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee and Robeson counties will participate. The curriculum highlights four study areas that encourage youth to become and stay informed; to form and express opinions and ideas; to strengthen communities; and to work together effectively.

· Youth Leadership Development Conference (North Carolina State Youth Council and N.C. Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office), $5,000. This grant will help defray the cost for 60 need-based students to attend the Youth Legislative Assembly (YLA) conference and training programs. The YLA, a mock General Assembly, enables 250 high school students to gain a better understanding of local, state and national government as well as debating current issues.

The North Carolina Civic Education Consortium at UNC’s School of Government is a non-partisan, statewide partnership of more than 200 organizations formed in 1997 with the support of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to revitalize civic education for young North Carolinians. More information is available at www.civics.org.

UNC’s School of Government at provides training, consulting, publications and other services for public officials to improve the quality of state and local government.

- 30 -

Note: Debra Henzey can be reached at (919) 962-8273 or by email: henzey@iogmail.iog.unc.edu

News Services: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593