Examples of Active Citizenship
Active Citizenship Fair
Students at a middle school sponsored an all-day, school-wide active citizenship fair. Students invited community organizations and nonprofit groups to set up booths to inform students about volunteer opportunities. More than 1,000 students visited the fair, and 20 organizations participated, including Black Lives Matter, Anti-war Movement, Honoring Veterans and the Alliance for Climate Protection. Ninety-eight percent of students surveyed at the fair said they had a previous interest in many of the topics represented but needed more information.
Hitting the Books for Charity
High school students sponsored a read-a-thon benefit for juvenile diabetes. This school-wide fund-raising activity encouraged students to read, raised money to help researchers and provided an opportunity for students to earn active citizenship hours of credit. Students collected pledges, read in the library for two hours after school and later returned to collect the donations. The event was open to all students. The local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation presented the school with an award in recognition of the $1,100 raised through the event.
Bundles of Love
Students from a high school’s student council held a blanket drive and made 35 blankets for Bundles of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides clothing, bedding and other necessities for infants. The local chapter gives out 25 baby blankets each month and regularly helps more than 60 clinics, agencies and hospitals. The local Wal-Mart donated the fabric for the blankets, which students made out of two pieces of overlapping fleece with the edges cut into
strips and tied into knots.
Reducing Racial Stereotypes
Several students at a local high school organized an effort to reduce racial stereotyping and profiling of people of Middle Eastern descent. Their awareness campaign alerted students and the community to the problem. Organizers wrote a position paper to declare their concerns and goals. They then printed fliers summarizing the issue and possible remedies with a call for volunteers who felt the same way. They didn’t get much response and are looking for better
ways to get the word out.
Explore how technology can be a useful tool for active citizenship – analyze several active citizenship projects that aren’t currently using technology, and then recommend specific social media or web-based strategies that might improve the project’s operation.
Improving Active Citizenship Through Social Media
Assessing and Making Recommendations for Active Citizenship
DIGITAL LITERACY
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