Cobb Students Talk Policy with Lawmakers

Students, Summer Dawson-Brown, Timothy Lumsden, Jessica Nicholson, Anita Onyimah, Matthew Osajima, Timothy Owens, Kristine Park, and Matthew Reese of Palmer Middle School in Cobb County, served as student ambassadors to the national Project Citizen Showcase held as part of the National Conference for State Legislatures conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  Their teacher, Mrs. Terrra Mahre, and Mr. Jason York, another Palmer teacher, accompanied the students.

Georgia was one of five states with student ambassadors at the conference. "Not only does the Project Citizen curriculum mesh with the language arts Georgia Performance Standards, it provides a true performance-based learning experience that hooks students on an issue meaningful to them," said Mahre.

The Project Citizen program requires students to choose a public problem and after researching, writing and problems solving, to develop policy alternatives and an action plan.  Their work is displayed as a portfolio and presented to policymakers.  Mahre's language arts classes have taken top honors at the state level for the past three out of four years.

Professional development opportunities for teachers to learn how to use Project Citizen and to obtain classroom resources are offered throughout the year.  Special arrangements can be made for training within a school system.  Financial support for this program is provided by the U.S. Department of Education through the Center for Civic Education (www.civiced.org) in Calabasas, California, and administered through the Georgia Humanities Council. 

Contact Mary Stakes, State Coordinator, for information about Project Citizen at mestakes[at]bellsouth.net.