PUBLIC SERVICE, PEACE, AND CIVIC POWER are propelling Civic Circle workshops this fall, which have reached more than 150 students in Grades 2-12 in nine different classrooms.
A highlight has been our “Jobs for Change” career club with Community CHEER for middle and high school students, who have learned how they can earn a living by making the world a better place. Students have heard from guest speakers in the nonprofit, social justice, advocacy, and public service fields, including Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, 480 Club Founder Joseph Hooks, United We Dream organizer Gerson Quinteros, Future Vote’s Gilberto Zelaya, and Genie Massey, with the Maryland Civic Education Coalition.
Other guests included several speakers with the League of Women Voters, and Civic Circle board members Neetha Tangirala, of The Proteus Fund, and Rick Cohen, chief operating officer for the National Council of Nonprofits. Special thanks to club coordinator Erykah Joseph, The Civic Circle’s program development specialist.
Other recent workshop highlights include civic songwriting with Munit Mesfin, poetry with Malachi Byrd, and visual arts with Kelsey Joyce, who is working with students at Arcola Elementary School to create posters celebrating immigration and students’ rights. Big thanks to Montgomery Housing Partnership, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and the Montgomery County Recreation Department's Excel Beyond the Bell program for making our elementary school workshops possible this fall.
THE GIVING SEASON STARTS NOW, and we hope you will join a campaign we’re calling Freedom Grows Here, which kicks off December 2 on GivingTuesday. A global day of giving to inspire generosity around the world, GivingTuesday raised close to $4 billion last year, and this year will make more impact than ever. At The Civic Circle, we need your help because the demand for civic learning centered on civility, truth, fairness and free expression continues to grow, but federal, state and local dollars are stretched too thin.
We’ve dubbed this campaign Freedom Grows Here because teachers and artists in our workshops are planting seeds of compassion, understanding and civic agency in the hearts of our students. Please mark your calendars for GivingTuesday on Tuesday, December 2. If you would like to get a jump on our campaign to strengthen democracy and youth civic engagement through the arts, please click HERE.