With the beginning of a new school year, so comes a new version of the Upper School’s Civic Engagement Program.

The focus of Civic Engagement this school year is on directly extending what students are learning in their classes, by providing opportunities to make connections between curricular themes and material and present day community life.

Instead of requiring a set number of hours of community service completed or a set number of public events attended, there will be two paths of civic engagement for students to choose from.

The first option is named Practicum. Practicum is the independent work that all Upper School students participate in to develop their political, cultural, and global awareness. Students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade who have signed up for this option must attend at least three off-campus public events, while 12th graders must participate in seven events, four of which must be off-campus.

The alternative is Intensive, in which students partner with an organization as an intern, volunteer, or program participant for a minimum of 25 hours over the course of the school year.

“The shift for this year is to have student Civic Engagement to be less dependent on having a group experience, and rather individual experiences,” director of Civic Engagement at Parker Shanti Elliott said.  “It’s more integrated into the student’s classes.”

During the Democracy Schools Morning Exercise on September 14, Elliott, defined a Civic Engagement experience as “students learning by engaging outside of the school, in public spaces, or in activities with people in different communities.”

Elliott said, “The program is here to support what students are learning about in the classroom in the real world.”  The requirements regarding hours of community service and public events attended are the same as previous years. The difference is that for many years students were doing hour-based projects and what Elliott found was that “it was very difficult for teachers to find any kind of connection with their classes.”

With an almost entirely new administration, there’s some anxiety surrounding even more changes being made to the school, including those to the Civic Engagement program, according to Elliott. Elliott is aware of the alterations to complete Parker’s education system. “The program has adjusted every year in response to student and teacher feedback,” Elliott said.  “We’re trying to be democratic!”

The goal of the program is to shape an individual into a well-rounded citizen, and to educate students to think and act with empathy, courage, and clarity as responsible leaders in a democratic society and global community.  Student compliance is key in their receiving the full effects of Civic Engagement, according to Elliott.

Student buy-in is key, according to Edward Amos, Upper School Dean of Students who is entering his second year at Parker.  “It’s really what you make of it,” Amos said. “The beauty about it is that you can make it as meaningful as you want.”

Upper School history teacher Andrew Bigelow, who has invested substantial time into the program in past years, believes the program is currently under-supported.  “It’s an extension of what we try to do well here, and the problem is that there isn’t a great deal of student and teacher buy-in,” he said.  “Everyone has to be on the same page.”

One problem is that Upper School students stay for just the beginning of public events. “We all know kids take a picture of themselves and leave,” Bigelow said, “and write a reflection that isn’t reflective.”

But Civic Engagement is happening “much more often in our lives than we think it is,” according to Elliott.  “You are civically engaged when you ask questions, especially questions that have to do with human respect and dignity.”

According to Elliott, teaching children how to ask questions and developing in them a sense of why things happen is something Parker prides itself on. Parker could be home to some of the next generation’s leading members in society, and Civic Engagement is a cornerstone in helping each individual relate with the outside world, making their transition that much smoother.

“Civic Engagement is for those who are invested in being a part in the world that surrounds them,” Elliott said. “The more the students take the responsibility of being invested, the more they develop as fuller human beings, leaders, and as thinkers.”