Editorial, Issue 6 – Volume CVI

The current Civic Engagement program at Parker needs to model itself after the 11th grade program. While there are expectations in place for 9th, 10th, and 12th grade students to be as civically active as possible, there are few clear requirements. The program for 11th grade students, by contrast, differs in that each student is placed in an organized civic group whose focus is relatively specific and whose leadership is in the hands of a personally committed adult.

Current 11th graders are separated into groups such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Migration Stories, Parents Allied with Children and Teachers for Tomorrow (PACCT), Creating Alliances, and Youth Leadership. While the 11th grade program gives structure to students, problems lie in the openness of the Civic Engagement program for the rest of the Upper School. Students not in 11th grade rely on their own views to be compelled to act civically; their experience is entirely up to them.

The 11th grade program also focuses on issues that connect back to what the students are learning in their American History courses. The group leaders specifically plan this program to provide substance and reason behind what they’re doing within the groups. For example, students in American History learn about the history of the drug war–then in SSDP, students take a deeper look into those issues.

In these groups, the students rely on passionate teachers to lead and educate. As their time together continues, the leaders inevitably spread their fervor to their students, and the students gain new, improved, and more educated views.

A major problem with the current program in the rest of the Upper School lies, it appears, in the lack of teachers willing to serve, willing to share their views and, thereby, motivate students.

According to Civic Engagement Director Shanti Elliott, this year’s program allows the students to pursue their own interests while still having support from the Civic Engagement Department.  

Still, an overwhelming majority of students not participating in the 11th grade program are not acting civically whatsoever. They’re choosing to use the lack of requirements to forget about their civic engagement.  

Meanwhile, a select few have leveraged their personal convictions for positive change. Six Upper School students organized an Illinois Chapter of the March on Washington and gathered funds to attend the Women’s March in Washington D.C., while other students went in support of the march in Chicago. Still other Upper Schoolers have contributed to and participated in the newly formed Activism Club.

A solution to the widespread lack of civic engagement?  Why not extend the junior year program to the rest of the Upper School. The program should use the convictions of faculty and staff to lead students and motivate them into a more active civic lifestyle. With this in mind, students would feel involved in their engagement as opposed to simply feeling like they need to pass Civic Engagement.

The leaders and advocates for the Civic Engagement program did well in effectively ending the public event requirement. But a new structure must come into place, one that motivates students personally, just as the students involved in the Women’s March and Activism Club were.

To improve the program, those who organize Civic Engagement year to year should take the pulse of the students and uncover which topics are most important to everyone. Then specialized groups, led by educated faculty and staff, should form in each grade to develop a curriculum that not only educates and motivates students, but also relates the topic to the curriculum for that particular grade.

It’s obvious that some students are eager to take action on what they feel is important. As for the others – the overwhelming majority – who don’t seem as willing, the Civic Engagement program going forward should act as a springboard so that the interests of students and teachers collide to benefit their causes in whichever way possible.