UPCOMING SCHOLARSHIPS

DUE SEPTEMBER 30th: Join the Harvard Youth Advisory Board’s cohort of high school students who advise the Making Caring Common Project on issues facing young people in schools. Marginalized students encouraged to apply here.

DUE OCTOBER 1ST: HBCU students who are working to mobilize their campus to vote can apply for funding from the Election Protection Coalition and the Lawyers’ Committee. Funding must support nonpartisan voter registration, education, and/or mobilization. Read the requirements and apply here.

DUE OCTOBER 4TH: The #CivicsForUS: Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship Application is open to students in 7th through 12th grade who have an interest in politics, civics, history, government, or social justice. Applicants must be low-income students, students of color, or students in rural communities, and must be nominated by a teacher. Learn more here.

DUE OCTOBER 6TH: Univision’s #VotaConmigo Challenge is accepting video applications from high school and college students in Spanish or English highlighting how they’re encouraging young Latinx folk to vote in this election. The winner of the Challenge can win up to $5000! Find the application page here.

DUE FEBRUARY 15TH, 2021: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute is accepting applications for the R2L NextGen Program. This scholarship allows Latinx high school students to take a fully funded trip to Washington D.C. and learn more about civic engagement and government. Find the application and tips on applying here.

September 2020

Back in March, when schools first closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, CDF-Texas released a DIY Democracy guide for educators and caregivers teaching civics online and/or at home. As students head back to school (virtually or in-person) we have created an updated guide to help teach the civic challenges of this moment.

This guide contains updated instructional resources for youth voter education, at-home action civics, curriculum for media literacy, and no-tech or low-tech civic learning. You will also find materials that center the role of protest as civic engagement throughout history and in the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, we have included resources for mental and emotional support, as well as scholarship opportunities with upcoming deadlines.

We believe just as strongly as we did in March that civic skills and civic education remain as important as ever. We hope this guide is useful both personally and professionally. If you have additional materials to share or need help finding specific resources, please reach out to Maggie Stern at mstern@childrensdefense.org. We encourage you to be innovative, be flexible, and most of all be patient with young people and with yourselves.

VOTER REGISTRATION

The voter registration deadline for the 2020 general election is October 5th. Make sure Texas youth are registered and ready to vote with these easy steps:

Grab your voter registration toolkit – a handy guide by CDF-Texas answering all your questions about voter eligibility and registration.
Check out Own Our Vote for a collection of more resources such as videos, presentations, and tips to motivate young Texas voters. There are materials in both English and Spanish.

Did you know 1 in 4 eligible Texas voters weren’t registered during the primaries, and Latinx and Black voters are even more likely to be unregistered due to generations of disenfranchisement?

People are more likely to register to vote when they are asked directly. You can help by joining Houston in Action to call or text unregistered voters here.

VOTER EDUCATION

Help young Texans be informed voters before they head to the polling place.

Catch up on the Be A Texas Voter curriculum – a series of voter education videos presented by League of Women Voters of Texas.
Texas counties run their own elections from voter registration to polling places. Find your county’s election website here.

Explore how the history of voter suppression continues to shape election laws today.

Join the Future Voters Project from Teaching Tolerance to teach students about the history of voter suppression and empower them to become voting rights advocates for their own communities. All videos are accessible with captions or transcripts, and are adaptable for remote learning.

Did you know 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to work as election clerks during Early Voting or on Election Day?

Just like regular poll workers, student election clerks are paid to help at polling places to make sure elections run smoothly. Learn more and apply now .

Not eligible to vote? There are plenty of ways to be civically engaged beyond the ballot box. We celebrate many forms of civic participation. Keep reading for more….

LESSON PLANNING

The Civics Renewal Network offers 1,300 teaching resources that can be filtered by grade level, branch of government, issue area, and type of activity. Additionally, their Constitution Day Toolkit is now live!
The Digital Civics Toolkit is designed for high school students to identify civic issues and learn how to use digital media to encourage civic participation. The full curriculum can be found here.

PROTEST & ADVOCACY

The past months have demonstrated once again that there are many forms of civic engagement that can change the world. Help students understand the role of protesting in civic life and the current Black Lives Matter movement with these resources:

Share a timeline of youth-led movements in the United States or research youth leaders around the world who are changing their communities.
Use Selma Online to connect the civil rights movement to the passage of the Voting Rights Act and the ongoing struggle to protect voting rights today.
Watch Freedom Summer to learn about student efforts to register voters in Mississippi. An emphasis on youth-led activism helps students understand their own civic power.
Use the 1619 Project to discuss the history of anti-Black racism in the United States. The curriculum, developed by the Pulitzer Center, includes guided reading questions and activities such as creating oral histories or mapping your community’s connection to slavery.
Invite young Texans to consider their own role as civic leaders through the Youth Participatory Politics Action Frame.

NO TECH OR LOW TECH

iCivics provides civic-focused games that can be pre-downloaded on devices and played without Internet access. Games are available in English and Spanish.
Teaching Tolerance suggests 34 “Do Something” tasks that can be adapted for students of all ages. Try creating a collage of issues, contacting officials, or writing original stories and poems.

AT-HOME ACTION CIVICS

Encourage students to practice and model civic behavior by filling out the 2020 Census here. Connect the Census to funding for issues that students care about.
Democracy Powered By You(th) has launched a nationwide get-out-the-vote initiative geared for middle school and high school students. Find more information on how to participate here!
Mikva Challenge is organizing a wide array of events on the election for youth, educators, and for your professional development. Read more and sign up for their virtual phone-bank here.
Check out Generation Citizen’s Beyond the Ballot. The first lesson focuses on local governments and services, while the second guides students on how to address an issue in their community.

COVID-19: Social-Emotional Learning & Wellness

The CDC has recently released a COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit, aimed at parents who are concerned about their children’s mental health amidst COVID-19. The toolkit has been specialized for children of all ages and you can find it here!
Share this guide from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network with tips for responding to children’s needs at different ages. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.
Find ways to acknowledge the effects of the pandemic on your life and the lives of your students. These reflections from a college professor are applicable to teachers and caregivers working with youth of all ages.

COVID-19: Current Events and Media Literacy

- Use this Media Literacy Booster Pack from the Civics Renewal Network to help students recognize biases and identify reliable news sources.
- Online education platform Newsela is offering free access to its news articles and historical texts, rewritten for different reading levels. Articles are aligned to
state social studies standards and are updated daily.

AT-HOME ACTION CIVICS

Listen to 60-Second Civics, a project by the Center for Civic Education, for a daily podcast & nearly 4,000 archived episodes.
Review the Texas Civic Health Index to see how civic participation compares in Texas with other states.
Reread CDF-TX’s 2019 Youth Vote Report for a Texas-specific history of voting rights and voter suppression to prepare for the 2021 legislative session as we work to create and strengthen pro-voter legislation.

Recess: Just for Fun!

Take a free virtual museum tour, this time with an updated list including 18 more museums!
Audible is still offering free children’s audiobooks available in six languages. Check out more options from your local public library.
Explore the world using Google Earth in a way you never have. The platform now has a create feature that allows you to place landmarks, drive, and find new places based on places you’ve already been.