Making civic engagement relevant again
Viren Mehta, a student at Oxford Academy, has been selected as a member of the inaugural Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship, a year-long program that will engage high school students from across the country to both explore how to make civics more inclusive and relevant to Americans of all backgrounds and to become civic leaders.
The fellowship, which was created through a collaboration between iCivics and Generation Citizen, will give students the opportunity to work with experts in civic engagement, advocacy, social and traditional media, and digital literacy to help build leadership and communication skills so that they can become student ambassadors for equity in civic education.
Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the fellowship is part of a broader initiative of iCivics and Generation Citizen to explore the challenges that civic education has when it comes to diversity in an effort to improve civic teaching for K-12 school.
Throughout the course of the 2019-2020 school year, the fellows will participate in in-person and virtual workshops and trainings designed to prepare students to tell their story about equity in civics in compelling ways. They will work on group projects around advocacy at the state level, engage in group discussions on equity, civic education, civic engagement, and design civic action projects around the upcoming census and voter engagement
In addition, fellows will also work closely with the newly formed Equity in Civics Steering Committee, which was created through this broader initiative, to discuss student concerns about equitable civic education and student preparedness for civic life.
Viren is one of 12 students who were chosen to take part in the fellowship. Applicants were nominated by teachers and mentors for the program and then submitted a self-assessment and essay for consideration.
The first cohort of the fellowship includes students from major urban centers on the east and west coasts, rural communities, suburban communities, and a crosssection of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.
Viren is very passionate in his goal to alleviate the effects of global warming. His solution is to integrate zero-emission electrical school buses into school systems across the world, and he has already created change in his district. Viren wrote a speech on his solution to global warming and got his district to include two fully functional zero-emission school buses. He hopes to expand on this solution and make it something global.
“The goal of ECYF is to allow the youth of our country to have their voices heard, and that is something that is very important to me. I think a lot of people underestimate the impact an active youth can have on our world. My goal personally is to create global change through the tools ECYF gives me.” Viren said.
Viren just returned to Cypress, CA from Washington D.C. for a weekend-long series of meetings and workshops at Georgetown University that kicked off the fellowship. While in the nation’s capital, they learned from experts such as the director of public engagement and government affairs at the Center for Educational Equity (CEE) at Teachers College, Joe Rogers; experts in digital literacy such as Benjamin Stokes of American University; as well as leaders from civic leadership nonprofits such as Young Invincibles and Student Voice.
“We created the Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship to address one of the most significant challenges that we in civic education face. For far too long, civics has been taught from only one perspective,” said iCivics Executive Director Louise Dubè. “We look forward to working with all of our fellows, helping them grow as advocates — and learning from them.”
“Youth voice is absolutely critical to empowering individuals to believe that they matter in our society. Our goal is to elevate the diversity of our students’ perspectives and experiences throughout the entirety of this experience.” Amber Coleman-Mortley iCivics Director of Social Engagement and Fellowship Program Director.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded iCivics in 2009 to transform the field through innovative, free educational video games and lessons that teach students to be knowledgeable, curious, and engaged in civic life. Today, iCivics is the nation’s largest provider of civic education curriculum, with our resources used by over 100,000 educators and more than 6.25 million students each year nationwide. Visit www.icivics.org to learn more..
