Civic Engagement has been changing the foundation of its program from year to year. From providing community service opportunities to students to recommending public events and requiring blogging, the Civic Engagement program has encouraged Parker students to explore the world around them. This year is different yet again–students will not only be receiving their Civic Engagement experience outside of Parker collectively, with their grademates and grade heads, rather than individually, but their experiences will be following them more expansively into their classrooms.  

Director of Civic Engagement Shanti Elliott, with the help of Civic Engagement Administrative Assistant Lisa Williams, has decided to officially integrate civic education in classrooms, as it has been done in past years in the junior year, rather than having Civic Engagement as primarily a separate experience. There will be grade-level Civic Engagement fieldwork days, but students will not be required to attend public events, blog, or complete community service hours. The Civic Engagement program is still willing to guide and support students who are passionate about pursuing independent projects.

Making civic learning more central to student work at Parker, according to Elliott, was the recommendation of the Civic Engagement Committee.  There were no faculty or administrative objections to the committee’s recommendations, according to Elliott. Elliott explained that changing the structure of Civic Engagement has been an ongoing process that she cannot pinpoint a beginning or an end to.

“We have been trying to keep up with what is happening in the world, and that is an ongoing adjustment rather than one set response,” Elliott said. “We aim to integrate Civic Engagement into the Parker education as a whole. This is something we have been building towards for years.”

Examples of civic learning inside the classroom from the past year include the biology class Citizen Science Project, in which students learned about the relationship between trees and climate change, and the calculus class’s Social Justice Math Project, which focused on racism in housing policies of Chicago. English, history, and art classes have also been using their spaces to engage in the questions of their time, Elliott said, from the presidential election to the refugee experience to Black Lives Matter and police violence.

Upper School history teacher Dan Greenstone, a member of the Civic Engagement Committee, believes that students should engage with the world beyond Parker through Civic Engagement. This philosophy is an integral part of the school’s mission and is strongly supported by the faculty, administration, and parents, according to Greenstone.

“We hope that students will come to feel, even more strongly than they do now,” Greenstone said, “that the skills and knowledge they are gaining in all their classes have real-world applications that can help improve society.”

In an email sent to the Upper School faculty on July 31, Elliott and Williams wrote that they will help teachers find resources that give their students the opportunity to explore the connection between civic life and course content. The preliminary resources given were links to Mikva Empowered Civics Institute, Teaching Tolerance, Yes! Magazine, and KQED Educators’ page. Elliott and Williams hope that the given resources will cultivate civic learning through curricular reflections on current events, research about the causes of social issues, and service and social action projects.

Williams is eager to start the new program. Working with teachers from every department is an exciting advantage, she said.

“Previously, we worked primarily with the English, History, and Science departments,” Williams said. “It will be great to add the global perspective of the Languages and Cultural Studies teachers and the insight of the Math teachers to our group.”

Junior Olivia Levine sees a significant change in the revamped Civic Engagement program. The absence of public events and community service hour requirements will make the purpose behind the program more appealing to the student body, she said.

“When we had all the requirements, students didn’t really want to participate in their public events,” Levine said. “I think having Civic Engagement in the classroom will actually increase participation from the student body. Students will get involved with organizations because they are interested, rather than wanting to fill the requirement.”

Elliott hopes that students will feel connected to the world around them and build strong relationships with people inside and outside of Parker.

“If I, for instance, see my civic work that I do in the community as something that I do now and then like someone expects it of me, or when I feel like it, then I won’t be a full citizen,” Elliott said. “Full citizenship means ongoing engagement in the world around us. Where I see us as a school moving is not just classroom integration. That’s not the final goal at all. The real goal is within each person and the community. We want students to feel part of this big vital process for democratic change.”