Program Overview
All Arizonans are engaged as active, informed, and responsible participants in our communities.
Before you begin to fill out the application in full, please be aware of some limitations in application process:
1. Google forms does not allow for you to partially complete the application and return later to finish the rest.
YOU MUST FINISH THE APPLICATION IN ONE SITTING. Thus, we ask you prepare the narratives and spreadsheets ahead of time. See below for directions on formatting and information to be included:
2. In order to prepare to complete the application in one sitting, be aware you will be asked to write three narratives on Social Studies Classroom Instruction and Action Civics, Structured Engagement of Current Events and Media Literacy, and School Culture and Climate Embedded with Social Emotional Learning. We strongly advise writing these narratives in Word or Google Docs ahead of time and then uploading to each section’s page when filling out the application.
3. The remaining civic education proven practices ask for spreadsheets to be uploaded. You will need to track your school’s activities for Service- Learning, Extra-curricular Activities, Student Participation in School Governance and Decision-Making, and Simulations of Democratic Processes. Please refer to the spreadsheet setup in the pictures below. You will need to create these ahead of time and upload each spreadsheet into each section of the application.
4. Your school is also being asked to upload short slide deck or video presentation (no more than five minutes) highlighting the civic practices in action at your school. *If students are identifiable, ensure your school keeps a media release on file because some of the videos may be shown at publicly to showcase the school.
Mission:
The Civic Education and Community
Engagement (CE2) program aims to increase civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions by:
- providing resources and professional civic learning opportunities
- recognizing schools and programs that utilize the ten proven practices of civic learning
- sharing and advocating for best practices in civic participation
- cultivating collaborative spaces for community engagement.
In July and August 2019 the Civic Education Committee met at their first annual retreat and made some exciting changes in the program based on the feedback of our Civic Engagement Schools and research in the field on civic education and engagement. The name of the program was changed from The Excellence in Civic Engagement Program to The Civic Education and Community Engagement Program. This change was made because we wanted to expand the program from the focus on the K-12 School Award to a program that not only recognizes exceptional Civic Learning programs in our K-12 schools but also our Institutes of Higher Education and programs by organizations that focus on Civic Learning programs for Adult Education. We also wanted the community engagement to become a larger focus of our mission.
Along with the changes in the program, there are significant changes in the school award. In addition to the Civic Engagement Schools Award for K-12 schools, post-secondary programs and community organizations who offer exceptional program for adults will also be recognized through a separate application and award. In addition to program recognition, The Civic Education and Community Engagement Program (CE2) will increase its focus and commitment to providing high quality professional development and community outreach. The annual Civic Learning Conference will continue each year.