We the People: Project Citizen, another notable curricular program for SLPS 7th graders. The project, designed and published by the Center for Civic Education (CCE), promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.
Entire classes of students work cooperatively to identify a public policy problem in their community. They then research the problem, evaluate alternative solutions, develop their own solution in the form of a public policy, and create a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities to adopt their proposed policy. Participants develop a portfolio of their work and present their project in a public hearing showcase before a panel of civic-minded community members.
After a stellar competition at the local level, two schools Lincoln Park Academy and Palm Point Educational Research School represented St. Lucie County with honor at the state competition.
The students who participated from Lincoln Park Academy under the direction of teacher David Perry were, Connor Blake, Muahbohn Dahn, Jeremy Jean Charles, Lancelot McDonald, Dylan Peate, Steve Septembre, and Marissa Ward. The students from Palm Pointe Educational Research School under the direction of teacher Hillary Cruz were, Natalie Ruppert, Tyler Thomas, Beth Casey, Kristina Patton, Sarah Wouters, Jillian Owen, Alexander Gust, and Garret Rodney.