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Street Law, Inc.

Over 40 years of educating about law, democracy, and human rights

Street Law / Programs

Closing the Gap: Civic Leadership for Youth

An initiative in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. to teach African American youths about the importance of civil rights history, its impact on their rights and responsibilities, and how they can be active, engaged members of their communities.

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Upcoming Events

2013 Civics and Civil Rights Institute (July 10–12, 2013)

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News & Updates

Volunteers Needed for Spring 2013!

Street Law is seeking volunteers in Boston, Philadelphia, and New Brunswick,NJ to participate in Breakfast with a Civil Rights Legend and Youth Act for Change. The time commitment is minimal: about 7 hours over the course of a few weeks. If you are interested in participating, please contact Deborah Foster

 

How the Programs Work

This initiative is being implemented in select elementary, middle, and high schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Through a three-tiered approach, African American students will learn about civil rights and advocacy with an end goal of developing a deep understanding of the importance and impact of the civil rights movement and how they can be active, engaged members of their communities.

Three programs make up this initiative: 

  • Breakfast with a Civil Rights Legend encourages upper elementary school students to take pride in their community and recognize the impact that community leaders—or “civil rights legends”—have on justice and equality.
  • Youth Act for Change teaches middle school students about civil rights and public policy issues and the advocacy steps they can apply to create meaningful change in their communities.
  • The Civic and Civil Rights Institute for Teachers is a three-day professional development institute for high school social studies teachers to improve and enrich their teaching about law, democracy, and civil rights. (Apply for the summer 2013 Institute.)

Throughout the course of this initiative, which runs November 2011 through October 2014, more than 3,000 upper elementary and middle school students will participate in the programs. Additionally, the high school teachers trained in the Civic and Civil Rights Institute will pass their knowledge on to approximately 5,000 students each year.

These programs will develop in students a number of essential skills, such as advocacy, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking, which will better equip them to overcome challenges in how they learn and improve their lives. Students will also benefit from the exposure to positive adult role models. All three initiatives will involve community leaders—professionals, judges, lawyers, and activists—who will share their experience and expertise. 

Due to the scope of the grant providing funding for Closing the Gap: Civic Leadership for Youth, participation is limited to schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S.

However, the individual components of the program are available from Street Law, Inc.

Partners

This initiative in being implemented in partnership with

  • The National Archives: The National Archives is generously hosting the Civic and Civil Rights Institute for Teachers. Located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC,  The National Archives and Records Administration serves American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage.
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