Participate in Civic Learning Week: Free Classroom and Community Activities
Learn how you can be a part of Civic Learning Week, March 11-15, 2024, with civic education resources to bring communities together in a nonpartisan way.
By Ace Parsi
Civic Learning Week, March 11-15, 2024, an annual nonpartisan event, that brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to highlight and further energize the movement for civic education in states and communities across the nation. This year's theme, "2024 and Beyond: Civic Learning as a Unifying Force," focuses on the need to make civics a national priority and a means to combat polarization. As an educator, you are central to addressing that need, and you should know how deeply appreciated you are!
Supporting organizations that support you makes my job magical. I often tell people, ‘I’m sure your job is great, but mine is better’—and I mean it. Each day, I get to work with some subset of over 325 organizations (including AFT and Share My Lesson!) that are members of the CivXNow Coalition, learning what they do and why they do it. What I find most inspiring is that what drives the lion’s share of organizations is you (educators in all grades and settings), the students you serve, and the constitutional democracy they inherit. That is why I’m so excited about the second-ever National Civic Learning Week (CLW). The week provides an opportunity for these organizations to celebrate their important work and broaden and deepen our powerful movement.
I asked our coalition members who create classroom resources (lessons, curricula, and professional development) to support teachers like you to choose one free resource that embodies the best of their work. You'll find those resources from great organizations like the Center for Civic Education, iCivics, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and 25 other great civic and history ed organizations linked here. We hope to provide you with this as an annual CivXNow Civic Learning Week gift with a deep appreciation for the work you do each day. Once you check the resources, you can visit organizations’ sites and find other free offerings to celebrate civic learning all year!
As I think about CLW, my mind goes to one of my favorite books I read to my daughter when she was younger. In Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, the mayor of this tiny town, Whoville, which exists on a speck, calls out to this one young person who isn’t effectively using their voice with an impassioned plea. In Dr. Seuss’s words, “This is the time for all Whos who have blood that is red to come to the aid of their country!" he said. "We've GOT to make noises in greater amounts! So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!”
You and your students are the key members of that chorus, and I encourage you to leverage your creativity and voice and celebrate Civic Learning Week with us in March.
The line always reminds me that all our voices don’t have to be the same or leveraged the same way, but together, they contribute to a beautiful chorus that can make an enormous difference. You and your students are the key members of that chorus, and I encourage you to leverage your creativity and voice and celebrate Civic Learning Week with us in March. It will make an enormous difference.
Additional Civic Learning Week Resources:
- Educator Toolkit – This is something educators you work with can use to engage in Civic Learning Week.
- Events - Check out virtual and in-person events relating to the week on our events listing and map.
- General Partner Marketing Toolkit – This has graphics, sample posts, and other collateral that might be helpful.
CivX Now Education Resources
Civics education is essential to ensuring each and every person across this country is equipped with the necessary tools to engage as members of our self-governing society. That makes you, the classroom teacher, a core pillar of what sustains our communities, states, and nation, both today—in the present—and in the future.
Ace Parsi
Ace Parsi serves as the Director of Coalition Engagement at iCivics. He first got exposed to iCivics through serving on the Steering Committee and the Implementation, Pedagogy, and Curation Task Forces of the Educating for American Democracy project. Prior to this role, Ace held a number of policy, research, and school-based positions including as Director of Innovation at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Director of Deeper Learning at the National Association of State Boards of Education, and Director of Policy at the National Service-Learning Partnership. Other organizational stops on that journey included equity-focused work at the Alliance for Excellent Education, Policy Analysis for California Education, and Fair Oaks Community School in Redwood City, California.
Ace’s civics journey began when he and his family immigrated to the US from Iran when he was eight. His own experience as an English language learner and free and reduced price lunch student led him towards a passion for utilizing education as a driver for greater equity and inclusion. He holds a Masters in Public Policy Degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a proud resident of Morgantown, West Virginia where he resides with his wife, Clare, and daughter, Ella.
iCivicsoffers the nation’s most comprehensive, standards-aligned civics curriculumresources available for your classroom, includingvideo games, lesson plans, literacy tools, andwebquests - all available for free!For more information on iCivics and to access the full library of resources, visit our w
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