Month: December 2023

Don’t Navigate the Challenges of Teaching Alone. Apply to join the Educator Network!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

While many professional learning communities exist, the iCivics Educator Network is unique. This group of energetic civics, history, government, and social studies teachers serve as champions and ambassadors for high-quality equitable civic education. 

As a member of the Educator Network, you’ll be connected to fellow educators with whom to collaborate and learn from and gain access to the tools and resources you need to effectively engage your students. 

“I love iCivics Educator Network because it creates a place for civics educators to gather and learn from one another… Because of these meetings, I feel empowered to use the materials and resources with authority and experience.”

~ Shari C., AP Government Teacher and iCivics Educator Network member

Join the cohort of Kindergarten to post-secondary educators from every state in the nation and learn from the broad range of experiences, diverse opinions, and valuable perspectives.

Benefits of joining the iCivics Educator Network:

  • Monthly virtual Educator Network meetings where you’ll connect with other members and discuss pedagogy and teaching ideas 
  • Monthly email newsletter packed full of learning opportunities and resources
  • First access to behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at new iCivics resources, special events, pilots, and other opportunities
  • Collaboration with other teachers as part of a vibrant and supportive community
  • Opportunities to share your teaching experiences with national and local media

Being a member of the Educator Network gives me added insight into best practices and helps me to troubleshoot as my students are engaging with the resources. It also introduced me to so many amazing teachers and gave us time to meet and talk about what we are doing, and why we do it. They inspire me to try new things!

~ Jennifer C., Teacher and iCivics Educator Network member

Today, iCivics lost its leader, but we continue to be guided by Sandra Day O’Connor

Posted on by icivics

In 2014, I met with Sandra Day O’Connor for dinner at a restaurant in Washington, DC, to interview for the position of executive director of her nonprofit iCivics. I barely got a word in between interruptions from other diners who wanted to shake her hand, tell her a story, or take a picture with her. When dessert was served, the Justice was clear in articulating my marching order: “Louise, we need to be in all 50 states.”

I have been working to make her vision a reality ever since.

When we met that day, iCivics was just past its startup phase. Today, up to 145,000 educators and 9 million students use iCivics resources every year. We now provide professional learning to educators to support their practice in all 50 states. And, we are working to advance bipartisan legislation on both the national and state level that supports civic education through CivXNow, a coalition that iCivics founded that includes more than 300 organizations from across the viewpoint spectrum.

Justice O’Connor was a true leader. Beginning in 2006, she was determined to “crack” civics, to reimagine how we teach a “boring” class in new and exciting ways, and to ignite the passion of young people to become involved in our constitutional democracy. Her determination, devotion to high quality, and find common ground continue to animate iCivics’ work. 

She was not just a luminary, but unique in her ability to drive change and follow through on her passions. 

Many important and famous people have started initiatives that have not succeeded. iCivics has grown and flourished because she spent time listening to the customers—educators and students and their families—to find out what they needed. She hired educators to work on curriculum development. She built products that were easy to use, engaging to students, did not require a lot of preparation time, and closely aligned to the state educational standards. That is iCivics’ recipe for success. 

And she did this because she cared not just about this country but about the very people that make up our nation.

Justice O’Connor saw into the future. She lived and worked within institutions her whole life. Yet much of her time was spent outside of these institutions, forging personal friendships and building trust. She knew that the formal was not sufficient. Institutions are nothing without people, without those who bring to bear the very norms, beliefs, rules, and behaviors that make institutions function well. Justice O’Connor understood that our country’s institutions cannot survive without support from “We the People.” 

Civic education is an investment in developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of a citizen so that they can both understand how our system functions and hold it accountable. Justice O’Connor understood that schools are the best way to ensure we reach each and every student in the United States in order to sustain and strengthen our constitutional democracy.

To this day, iCivics’ culture is a reflection of Justice O’Connor’s determination and commitment.

I came to iCivics to honor the legacy of a woman who pioneered the way forward for professional women. As she said, “It was good to be the first, but you did not want to be the last.” 

I feel an obligation to ensure that the contribution of the women from a generation prior to mine is understood, honored, and respected. My mother had an eerily similar story to Justice O’Connor’s. She was the second woman Supreme Court Justice in Canada. Also like Justice O’Connor, my mother could not get hired out of law school and ended up posting an ad in the newspaper. 

But both women persevered and did not let the conventions of their time get in the way of their talent and wisdom. They are superwomen, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

Shortly before she died, I was deeply honored to speak with Justice O’Connor one last time. I assured her that iCivics was successful and that her vision is now a reality.

We will miss you, Justice O’Connor, but we continue to be animated by your vision.

Thank you for your service.

—Louise Dubé, Chief Executive Officer, iCivics

First Woman on Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor Will be Remembered as Country’s Foremost Advocate for Civic Education

Posted on by icivics

Though her career on the U.S. Supreme Court often took center stage, Justice O’Connor saw her founding of iCivics, the country’s premier provider of and leading advocate for civic education, as her legacy. 

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. [December 1, 2023] — As the nation mourns the passing of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, she will be remembered not just for her seminal work with the Court, but as the founder of a movement to revitalize civic education. 

Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 by Ronald Reagan, O’Connor was known as a moderate and master of intelligent compromise. When she retired in 2006, O’Connor began work on what she would see as her true legacy—ensuring that millions of young Americans were educated on how our government works and empowered to become informed and engaged participants in our self-governing society.

In 2009, O’Connor founded the nonprofit iCivics with the goal of transforming civic education for every student in the United States. 

iCivics started this work by creating innovative, engaging online games and resources. Since its inception, iCivics’ games have been played more than 189 million times. All iCivics content is completely free and nonpartisan—and is now used by up to 9 million students and 145,000 teachers annually in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

“Justice O’Connor was both a great Justice and a great person. She brought such experience and integrity to everything she did. Her legal and political career was exceptional, at a time when the obstacles for women were formidable; providing a thoughtful ballast and balance to the Court, and continuing to make important contributions to America and its civic institutions after she stepped down,” iCivics Board Chair Larry Kramer said. “iCivics was her brainchild. She spotted the need and importance of reinvigorating civic education before others, and she led the creation of an innovative leader in the field. As important, she was kind and generous, a friend and mentor to countless young people.”

Remembered as a trailblazer for her work on the Court, it was the path Justice O’Connor blazed after she retired from the U.S. Supreme Court—as a pioneer in advancing civic education—that she stated both privately and publicly was what she considered her true legacy. 

“If we want our democracy to thrive, we must commit to educating our youth about civics, and to helping young people understand their crucial role as informed, active citizens in their communities and in our nation,” Justice O’Connor said in her final remarks to the public in 2018, as she withdrew from public life because of her health. “We must arm today’s young people with innovative civic education that is relevant to them. Bringing high-quality civics to every school in every state of our union is the only way that the next generations will become effective citizens and leaders.”

Over the last decade, iCivics has supported its work in the classroom through its leadership of a movement to make civic education a nationwide priority. iCivics founded CivXNow.org, a politically and culturally diverse coalition of more than 300 major organizations, universities, and foundations that are working across political lines to improve civic education. 

In 2021, iCivics along with Harvard, Tufts and Arizona State Universities unveiled the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy (EAD). The initiative, first funded under the Trump Administration and continued under the Biden Administration, crafted a framework that charts the path toward a vibrant and diverse constitutional democracy through civics and history education. 

“I came to work at iCivics to fulfill Justice O’Connor’s vision for a civic education that prepares students for civic engagement. During my interview for the position, she told me that it was not enough for students to know, they must also do, be engaged and solve problems,” iCivics Chief Executive Officer Louise Dubé said. “The Justice’s career is a testimony to civic service and dedication to the country. My goal remains to fulfill her vision and make her proud. And there are no words for how much she has meant for iCivics, civic education, and how deeply we will miss her.”

For more information about Justice O’Connor’s work with iCivics, visit iCivics.org. To arrange an interview, please contact jacob@oneallen.com.