The Civic Circle’s newsletter, The Civic Voice, spotlights civic success stories that are often overlooked in what can seem like a steady stream of bad news. Sharing civic good news can help counter the sense of powerlessness and even defeatism that many Americans feel today. It’s crucial to shine a light on where leaders, government and democracy have fallen short. Yet when we harp excessively on democracy’s failings, we unwittingly become part of the problem.…
The Civic Circle is extremely pleased to welcome new board member Matt Brown, a nonprofit executive with extensive experience in youth leadership programming. Matt comes to us via BoardMatch Montgomery, a program that pairs graduates of Leadership Montgomery with area nonprofits. Matt has spent 22 years advancing community development, youth empowerment and economic growth in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere. He is currently Director of Exchange and Training at World Learning, a nonprofit…
Arcola Elementary School students participating in The Civic Circle’s second pilot workshop on voting came up with a dynamic theme for the original song that they wrote with our teaching artist, LEA: “We Rule!” The workshop kicked off with a solo performance of songs from “Vote for Me!” Even though it was designed for two actors, the show works equally well when performed by one person. In this format, LEA combines the songs with group…
When we tell people that we are teaching elementary schoolers about voting, they often ask how the topic can be relevant to students that young. But the truth is that students anywhere from Kindergarten through 5th Grade are making collective choices all the time, and are keenly attuned to who holds power in their lives, and whether they have a voice. The best evidence that the students we are working with “get it” came from…
Last year, The Civic Circle reached more than 200 students through our library and school shows, our first songwriting workshop, and our Democracy Rocks concert. This year promises even more exciting milestones, as we launch our first after-school workshops focused on voting. We had our first workshop just last week at Making Home Possible (formerly Montgomery Housing Partnership) in Wheaton. Nick Newlin and LEA kicked off the first of three Fridays with a performance of…