Energy conservation, vending machines in schools, childhood obesity—these are just a sampling of the public policy issues that Michigan students have tackled as part of their involvement in Project Citizen.
Project Citizen is a program for upper elementary, middle, secondary, post-secondary students, and youth organizations, that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. Students work together to identify a problem, study policy issues related to the problem, develop a solution to the problem, and create an action plan for implementing their policy. In a culminating activity, students present in a simulated legislative hearing, demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of how public policy is formulated.
Project Citizen is a way to get students actively engaged in solving real life problems. Project Citizen connects students with members of the community who deal with community issues in real life.
Project Citizen involves a five step process:
- Identifying a problem in their community
- Gathering and evaluating information on the problem
- Examining and evaluation solutions
- Selecting or developing a proposed public policy solution
- Developing an Action Plan
To learn more about how to involve your class in Project Citizen, contact us.
Correlation of Project Citizen to Michigan's Grade Level Content Expectations (PDF, 115 KB)
Past participants and projects
