Citizenship Action Projects

1. Citizenship Action Projects C. A. P. Kids can change the world!

2. Inspiration “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” Willa Cather (O Pioneers)

3. If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it… one step at a time. Marian Wright Edelman

4. "It is from numberless, diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends a tiny ripple of hope. Robert F. Kennedy

5. “We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.” Sonia Johnson

6. “Service is the rent we pay for living.” Marian Wright Edelman

7. “Life’s most urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King, Jr.

8. “We sometimes feel that what we do is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of the missing drop.” Mother Theresa of Calcutta

9. “Hundreds and thousands of young people around the world can break through these walls. You can change the world.” Dr. Jane Goodall

10. “We overwhelm children with all the suffering and evil in the world, but do we enable them to act?”Sister Joan Magnetti,cited in Thomas Lickona’s Educating for Character

11. Citizenship Action Projects in History Class at the Episcopal Academy As our final class project, I ask my students to think about a real-world problem they care about and act to change it for the better. C. A. P.

12. One of my history students asked, “What does the C.A.P. project have to do with history?” Great question! I share my inspirations with them, and I also say, “I want you to make history by taking action to improve the lives of the people, plants, and animals around you. Be a thinking, caring, and active citizen, and YOU will be making history of your own.”

13. I invite you to help your students put their dreams into action. Sample directions for students are below: C. A. P.

14. Goals C. A. P. • CAP off our year studying American History by making some history yourself! • Goal: To see the positive effects of your own individual efforts on the world around you. • To see the cumulative effects of the sincere efforts of many active citizens.

15. Task: C. A. P. • Identify a problem in your home, school, community, country, or the world at large. • Identify a way you can work actively to improve the situation. • Make a plan and carry it out alone or with others, for a long or short time period. • Report on your project to the class. • Make a poster (8 ½ by 11) by hand or using computer telling about your project.

16. C. A. P. Problems & Possibilities Home:

17. School:

18. Community

19. Country

20. World

21. Timeline for project C. A. P. • March 10 through April 19 : THINK! Gather ideas. Talk to your teachers, family, and friends. • April 20: Share youridea for a CAP project. • FROM March 10 through May 24:Do the project at any point during this time period! • DUE Wednesday, May 18: One paragraph project description (standard writing format). • Wednesday, May 25:Present project to class (tell them what you did @3 minutes). • Wednesday, May 25:Handmade or computer-made poster due when you talk to class.

22. Kids Share Project Ideas C. A. P. • About a month after making the assignment, take a class period to have kids share CAP ideas. • Lead the discussion and elaborate on their thinking. Ask them why issues are important. • Help students understand why proposals may or may not work. Present alternatives to fundraising. • Invite classmates to work together on similar projects. • Allow students to change plans and projects. Student interest is key!

23. Sample paragraph: book donations When I first received this assignment I began to think of ideas and right away I thought of donating books to one of my dad’s hospitals, because they are in need of books. My plan to collect books is to give out flyers to my friends and neighbors (which I have done). Then I will collect the books on May 20th and deliver them to the hospital on May 23rd. So far I have given out the flyers and I have also collected some book donations from a few people.* I feel that my donations will help the hospital patients get through their stay at the hospital a little bit better and also help the hospital. This is a great opportunity to meet your community. --Nicole *Nicole collected and donated 1000 books!

24. Sample paragraph: save raptors A problem I am trying to solve is the endangerment of raptors, or birds of prey. This is a national problem because most raptors are endangered. My plan is to educate people about raptors, specifically a snowy owl I gave money to rehabilitate. Mostly, the people I am going to talk to are the students at the C.A.P. Fair and in class. I have collected all of my information about my owl and several interesting facts about raptor endangerment. I am planning to make a small poster, along with the required one, that I can show some pictures of my owl and other raptors. I feel that my actions will only interest some bird-lovers, but not that many people. I feel this because many people don’t usually think about saving the animals.* -- John *John’s project did interest his classmates. He continues to work at a raptor center in Vermont each summer.

25. Sample paragraph: recycling I think that the problem in this community is recycling. People may see the recycling bins and every once in a while put a bottle or piece of paper in them, but their hearts are not in it. To help out this cause, I decided to make signs all over the school to support recycling. With creative and colorful signs I plan to get more people into recycling. So far, I have created 2 beautiful signs to put up. I will get some of my friends to help me make some more. I feel that my actions will make people of the school think more about recycling. So next time at lunch, instead of putting that “Vitamin Water” in the trash, a student could save it for the recycling bin for bottles. My actions are prominent to school because I’m promoting recycling in a fun way. --Asia

26. Sample paragraph: park cleanup Have you ever gone to your local park to play basketball or football? If you have, you probably have heard and felt the crunch you hear and feel when you step on trash. All over Gladwyne Park there was trash. My plan was (I have already executed the plan) to pick up all the trash in Gladwyne Park. As of now I have cleaned up the park (as of April 29th) and made it look better overall. Next, I hope to pick up trash every time I go there. I feel good that now every time someone sees the close-to-trash less park they think that it is well kept. When there was trash all over the ground it made the community seem irresponsible, now they don’t look like that. I think my actions made a medium-sized impact in my community; it’s a noticeable but not stunning difference. I would have made a bigger dent if I got people all over the township to clean their parks, but I feel as if I have done a good deed. Overall, I feel good about this project and the things I have done. –Will

27. Sample paragraph: fund a schoolchild in Colombia For the C.A.P. project Sophia, Devi, and I raised money and awareness for a school in Colombia, South America. The school is basically for anyone, however it is especially for children whose guardians cannot afford much. We had a bake sale in order to raise money in order to send one child to school. Next, we plan to send the money to the school. I feel very good about what we have done and am very proud to be sending a child to school. I also think that what we have done is important for many reasons. First is that we saw we have much more than many people, and I have learned to appreciate what I have even more. Second is that I saw that by just doing something little and fun you can make a big difference. Lastly is that if I know I have just sent a child to school it feels like I have made a huge difference in the world because I am basically giving someone an education. --Polina

28. Poster Instructions: C. A. P. Poster Components: Use this as a checklist for your poster. • 8 ½ by 11-inch sheet. • Colorful headline naming project or problem. • Your name and class. • Two-sentence description of problem. • List or paragraph describing the action you took. • Picture (at least one!): hand-drawn, photograph, or clip-art. • A motto, original or borrowed (with citation if borrowed), expressing your feelings about completing this project. The motto should serve as inspiration to all who read your poster.

29. Sample Posters C. A. P.

30. JohnMrs. CannonF HistoryDue: 5/25/05 Citizenship Action Project The Problem The problem I am trying to fix is that people don’t pay any attention to how bird-of-prey, raptors, are becoming endangered. Also, people don’t realize how important raptors are to the environment, to the food-chain, to be exact. My Actions I took actions where I gathered information about raptors and a particular snowy owl, whom I gave $25 to rehabilitate in a raptor center. Then, I am going to present a mini-presentation about raptors and my snowy owl to the 6th grade at the C.A.P. Fair. If I can, after C.A.P. is over, I would like to go to VINS, or Vermont Institute of Natural Science, and try and present there, since I am moving less than two hours away. Motto: The only good raptor, is a live one. Other raptors need to be protected, as well as owls.

33. Love your project! • It’s important to work on something you really care about, using your unique talents and gifts!

34. CAP FAIR C. A. P. • Students each present their project results and posters to the class. They answer questions from their classmates and give out handouts of background information. • However, the real excitement is for them to educate the wider school community. • To that end, organize a CAP FAIR and invite fellow students, faculty, administration, and parents.

35. EA CAP FAIR 2005 • Create a bulletin board of all the posters. Students should create copies of their posters to serve as handouts during the fair. Also, they may want to have posters, photos, and other props. • Set up tables for students to use for presentations.

36. Bulletin Board of Posters

37. Students take pride in sharing their projects with visitors.

38. Students educate their classmates and demonstrate projects. A student teaches classmates about saving the raptors. Hand-drawn comics make placemats for homeless shelters and food kitchens.

39. Think and act globally. One of the children has an aunt who runs a school in Colombia. She inspired her classmates to join her in fundraising for school tuition.

40. Think and act locally. Clean-up of historic mansion was inspired by a grandmother on the mansion board of trustees. Family adopts a highway, inspired by a child’s project.

41. Help animals or people. Students buy plastic bracelets to support animal shelters. Students order hand-made bracelets to support cancer research.

42. Charity begins at…. A granddaughter paints and plants flowerpots for the residents of her grandmother’s nursing home. A student raises recycling awareness in our school.

43. Discuss: How many of you feel you have made a positive difference? C. A. P.

44. C. A. P. Kids’ Reactions: • If two people you loved were diagnosed with breast cancer (as were both of my grandmothers), wouldn’t you want to try and help the rest of the people who have this horrible disease? I am proud that I raised so much money for breast cancer research by selling my one-of-a-kind pink-beaded bracelets. I donated 100% of my sales to help research breast cancer treatment. - Chloe • It was fun working with my friends for a good cause. We could have been sitting at home watching television that Saturday, but instead we were out in the cold having a lot of fun. Picking up trash was disgusting, but we helped the environment around us. - Kati • I gave serious thought to what I am passionate about. My conclusion was I am a huge animal lover. I designed my bracelets at “reminderband.com” to raise money for the Fund for Animals. We are not just talking dogs and cats here! They help animal protection and rescue all around the world. I am feeling very good about myself because I am helping abandoned, lonely, injured, orphaned, and unloved animals. - Maddie

45. More Kids’ Reactions • I think it is great to turn something I love to do into a commitment for society. I would normally think a project like this is boring, and I did until Will suggested making comics. I think it’s helpful for both us and the children at the shelter that we are working together for the greater good.- Graham • I personally feel great about what I am doing. I think this is important because America is the fattest country in the world, and if I can help educate people over the years the percentages will drop. - Paul • When I think about the fact that I sent a child to school, I feel amazed. I gave a child an education. I gave that child a part of their future. - Sophia • Who knows, they can be the future leaders of the world. One thing I’d like to change is for more people to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. - Devi

46. Website support: • Roots and Shoots: Founded by Jane Goodall, the Roots and Shoots program inspires youth of all ages to make a difference by becoming involved in their communities. • Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation: Creates the opportunity for young people to understand the world and translate that understanding into positive action. • The Giraffe Project: Moving people to stick their necks out for the common good. A story-based K-12 curriculum that teaches courageous compassion and active citizenship. • Peace Jam: The goal of PeaceJam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers who will transform their local communities, themselves and the world.

47. Think.Care.Act.Be good. Do good.

48. Contact information: Susan Gelber Cannon Episcopal Academy Middle School 376 N. Latches Lane Merion, PA 19066 cannon@ea1785.org Visit my website and prowl around! Sue Cannon at the Episcopal Academy