Social Science and Civic Engagement

Chicago Public Schools is committed to ensuring every school receives access to quality resources, training, and partnerships that helps them engage young people authentically and meaningfully in Civic Life, and ensure their education sees their lived experience as an asset to learning and to their communities. 

These strategic initiatives are aimed at increasing youth participation to address issues that impact them, our communities, and our democracy. We believe it is critical that youth have a seat at the decision-making table, that they learn about and contribute to the discussion of issues that impact them, and that there is a pathway for youth to leverage their own expertise, their vision, and their solutions in order to act for a better world. These #EngageCPS initiatives provide resources, grants, and training to teachers/schools, and connect schools to partners engaging in their communities.  

• CPS 2020 Elections Participation Guidance
• CPS 2020 Post-Elections Guidance
• Say Their Names: Conversations on Race and Civil Disobedience Toolkit
• CPS Census Participation and Outreach
• CPS 2018-2019 Electoral Engagement Guide [updated guide coming soon!]
• #StayEngaged Socially Distanced Engagement Guide

See videos from our recent CPS Civic Life Student Town Halls:

• #StayEngaged Town Hall with President Obama, Mrs. Obama, and Eric Liu
• Census Engagement Town Hall with Congressman Chuy Garcia with special messages from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Senator Dick Durbin
• CPS Covid Response Town Hall with CPS CEO Dr. Janice Jackson, CPS Chief Education Officer Latanya McDade, Chicago Board of Education Members Dr. Elizabeth Todd-Breland and Amy Rome.

Contact Heather Van Benthuysen, Social Science and Civic Engagement Director, for more information at hvanbenthuysen@cps.edu

Calumet Is My Back Yard (CIMBY) engages high school students in a place-based environmental science program in the Calumet Region, which connects classroom learning to outdoor stewardship.

Contact Samantha Ozik at scmattone@cps.edu for more information.

Chicago Public Schools believes that financial education plays a critical role in preparing young people for informed and engaged civic and personal lives, and will advance equity by positioning CPS students and families for long term socio-economic mobility through financial literacy.  Our Financial Education program includes curriculum, curricular supplementary resources, extensive partnerships, grants, and events.

Contact Dustin Voss, Financial Education Specialist, at dkvoss@cps.edu for more information.

Our goal is for our students to build the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to be informed and effective global citizens. We offer curriculum, training and programmatic extensions for social science instruction. Coming soon is a new vision for social science in Chicago Public Schools. Learn more in our Video: A New Vision for Social Science in CPS

Examples of courses, training, partnerships, and student programming:

• Participate Civics Program for High School and Middle School aims to advance civic learning by centering students’ experiences and identity in the classroom, and connect them meaningfully in civic participation with electeds, community members, and civic institutions. Participate Civics is an inquiry-driven curriculum designed for Chicago’s youth, and includes teacher training, partnerships, grants, and student programming. For more information, contact Emma Kornfeld-Knapp at Ekornfeld@cps.edu.
• Reparations Won High School and Elementary School are educational units developed for teachers and students in Chicago Public Schools in response to the reparations package agreed to by the city of Chicago in 2015. These units are designed to teach basic information about the torture of persons conducted under Commander Jon Burge of the Chicago Police Department and the legacy of this experience. For more information, contact Janeen Lee at Jlee104@cps.edu. 
• Facing History and Ourselves Curriculum Partnership:  In CPS, all students and teachers receive access to the powerful curriculum and training from FHAO Chicago: 8th grade - Choices in Little Rock; 9th grade - Holocaust and Human Behavior; 10th grade - The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy
• Street Law: CPS has partnered with Street Law to provide training and curricular resources to CPS teachers, grades K-12. This partnership will train all middle school teachers offering the new 8th grade civics course, train high school teachers to facilitate discussion of controversies, and will train a team of 30 teacher-leaders in deliberation writing. Once trained, they will continue to develop K-12 classroom deliberations designed for Chicago youth - and be made available for free to all CPS teachers through the CPS digital curriculum.   
• City Clerk of Chicago: Our partnership with the Office of the City Clerk enables Participate Civics classes to enrich their investigation of the power of policy by visiting City Hall, collaborating with students from other schools, developing policy ideas about issues of importance and simulating a City Council meeting. 

Service learning has shifted from focusing primarily on individual responsibility, through volunteer hours, to a more participatory and justice-oriented participation, embedded in classroom service learning projects. Every CPS graduate will have completed two community-centered action projects as part of their high school experience.  Our Inquiry to Action framework is designed to support the development & implementation of classroom service learning projects that bolster civic oriented project-based learning in all disciplines, K-12. The Inquiry to Action framework requires deep learning and analysis of systemic issues after which a student-led informed action takes place. Following a unit of study, students are asked to apply that knowledge through investigation and action on authentic issues or problems that impact their communities or lives. For more information, contact Alejandra Frausto, Project Based Learning Manager at afrausto@cps.edu.

Schools are one of the first civic institutions that youth experience. In order to fully prepare our youth to be informed and engaged civic actors, public schools must model democratic values and culture and ensure students are included and valued members of the school community from the start. Our department supports schools in realizing this commitment to Civic Life by building a 360 degree approach to student voice in schools. A commitment to student voice and civic life not only impacts classroom instruction, but schoolwide culture, climate, and engagement with the greater community.

Contact Heather Van Benthuysen, Director, hvanbenthuysen@cps.edu or Emma Kornfeld-Knapp, Civic Engagement Manager, at ekornfeld@cps.edu for more information.

Student Voice Committees (SVCs) are designed to promote strong, sustained student-adult partnerships that work together to address school-based issues and promote shared decision-making. Chicago Public Schools encourages all schools to have an SVC. The Department of Social Science and Civic Engagement support schools in their efforts to build inclusive partnerships in schools by providing curriculum, training, grants, student events, and partnerships. For more information, contact Heather Van Benthuysen, Director, hvanbenthuysen@cps.edu or Emma Kornfeld-Knapp, Civic Engagement Manager, at ekornfeld@cps.edu for more information.

Student Voice and Activism Fellows (SVAF): SVAF is a CPS youth leadership group with a mission to inform, shape, and strengthen the district’s commitment to building strong student-adult partnerships in decision making in all schools and across all district systems. These leaders are committed advocates of student voice in all aspects of schooling.

SVAF has varied roles in the district: they train teachers, administrators, and central office staff in building meaningful youth-adult partnerships; they lead conferences and workshops for other students on youth leadership and advocacy in their schools and communities; and advise central office departments on strategic decisions. This High School leadership group is a capstone of our Student Voice Committee (SVC) program.  Student leaders that are part of their school’s SVC apply to be a Student Voice and Activism Fellow. For more information on SVAF, contact Heather Van Benthuysen, Director, hvanbenthuysen@cps.edu or Emma Kornfeld-Knapp, Civic Engagement Manager, at ekornfeld@cps.edu for more information.

The CPS Student Advisory Council (SAC) is composed of twenty student leaders from across the city of Chicago who are passionate about education and committed to improving Chicago Public Schools. This council works directly with Dr. Janice Jackson to identify, research, and recommend policy solutions that will impact students district-wide.  SAC spends their year, summer through spring, conducting research on factors important to students that impact their education in CPS, working with various CPS district leaders to develop action plans and policies that will have lasting change for all students. For more information, contact Heather Van Benthuysen, Director, hvanbenthuysen@cps.edu or Emma Kornfeld-Knapp, Civic Engagement Manager, at ekornfeld@cps.edu for more information.

Civic Action Awards: Chicago Public Schools has developed criteria designed to elevate and honor leadership in four areas of youth civic engagement: youth leadership, educator leadership, schoolwide civic culture, and community partnership.  We have partnered with the Obama Foundation in the annual Civic Action Awards to uplift these leaders, and create awareness about the powerful, impactful work they do for our district and city. Read about our 2019 Civic Action Recognition Award winners.