Sophomores at St. Charles High School are learning how to be active and contributing citizens by identifying an issue in the community and working on ways to remedy it. The students recently worked in groups of four to seven students on Project Citizen curriculum presenting their findings to a panel of judges during an April 9 showcase.

“This project is totally student owned. There is zero teacher intervention as far as doing the work for them,” Michael Colatruglio, a social studies teacher at St. Charles who teaches local, state and national (LSN), said.

A project through the Center for Civic Education, Project Citizen is a six-step process which the students started in March. The steps include identifying a problem of interest to the group — some examples from the showcase included the lack of sidewalks in neighborhoods, pollution of the Potomac River and the need for more recreational spaces for children and teens in the county.

After identifying a concern, the group studies the issue, gathering information which includes interviewing community members and elected officials. They then develop a portfolio and argue their point during a simulated public hearing. After the simulation, which was the recent showcase, students regroup to reflect on the experience. 

“Students learn to collaborate in a digital environment, they have to learn to view stakeholders beyond themselves, analyze alternative positions and understand why people may oppose their plan or suggest alternatives to it,” Colatruglio said.

For Damon Jenkins Jr., a sophomore who worked on a project focused on the lack of sidewalks in some neighborhoods, the process of getting others on board his team’s vision was harder than originally thought. “I think the most challenging part was finding people who would support our cause,” he said. “We had to convince them that it’s important to be considerate of all people. This issue affects everyone.”

The project is designed to make teens — on the precipice of reaching voting age and being out in the “real world” — aware of the processes of advocating for changes that benefit members of their communities. 

“I think students generally learned a lot about why solutions can't just happen overnight through this project,” Hayley Ressler, a St. Charles social studies teacher, said. “The research on identifying and isolating a specific issue is one task that takes a lot of effort before you even start coming up with ideas.”

The top four teams as rated by the judges advance to the state’s Project Citizen event May 28 in Annapolis.

The following teams advanced to the state Project Citizen program.

• Potomac River Pollution — team members are Brooklyn Benfield, Gregory Davis III, Jeriah Proctor and Chase Reynolds.
• Lack of Sidewalks — team members are Damon Jenkins Jr., Brianna Julian, Kinleigh Fraser, Jiselle Warren and Ania Robin.
• Teen First Higher Guarantee Act — team members are Devin Hall, Ciara Hine, Angelina Busch, Anthony White, Braylon Smith, Karina Urrutia Merren and Khalil Williams.
• Future Economic Success — team members are Helena Webb, Logan Perry-Hardin, Tatum Anderson, Kharri Lee-Corbett, Amira Ligonde, Adrianne Cheatham and Drew Hinson.

The judges for the St. Charles showcase included Marcie Taylor-Thoma, Ph.D., director of the Maryland Council for Civic & History Education which oversees the state’s Project Citizen program. She said Project Citizen provides students with hands-on experience in civic participation while strengthening their critical thinking and advocacy skills.

“They are developing confidence and agency,” Taylor-Thoma said. “I loved their understanding of policy and levels of government.”

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 27,904 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Mike Blanchard, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event. 

CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).