Photo : A sketch done by one of the student ambassadors at the April 2023 student-produced event, "Life and Legislation: America's BIG Divide on Abortion."
American Public Square at Jewell
CIVICS EDUCATION INITIATIVE
The APS Civics Education Initiative expands APS’ mission into local high schools and colleges through partnerships with educators, students and administrators, and special student-led programming opportunities.
Through three curriculum units, delivered in the Fall semester, students in the APS Civics Education Initiative receive civility training, engage in classroom discussions and critically assess the impact of today’s media on civic discourse.
A strong focus in 2023 centered around journalism and providing students the opportunity to not only learn about how news stories get developed, but also the chance to engage directly with local journalists to gain first hand insight.
APS staff was able to leverage the organization’s membership in the Kansas City Media Collective along with relationships with local news outlets, The Kansas City Star and KCTV 5, to engage students in conversation with local journalists. Participating journalists spoke with students about ethical standards in journalism and their process for developing fact-based, informative content for local citizens. Studies have shown that this type of engagement and access to local journalists increases trust in local news.
In a full circle moment, students who engaged with local journalists this Fall became the subject of local news themselves. Their coursework inspired several pieces from KC Media Collective partners at Flatland KC. Civics Education Initiative Program Manager, Tricia Maxfield, as well as several participating students were featured by Flatland.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
"Help With Navigating a Complex Media Landscape: Media Literacy Courses Teach Valuable Skills to Students of All Ages: by Cami Koons, Nicole Dolan and Cody Boston | Flatland KC by Kansas City PBS
Access the full episode of Flatland in Focus here. A preview video is above.
More than
local students
who have "Agreed to Disagree Better"
*Includes student participants from Thrive and Kindness Youth Leadership programs.
participating high schools
including Belton High School, Guadalupe Center, Lee’s Summit West High School, Olathe North High School, Shawnee Mission North High School, St. Teresa's High School, University Academy
curriculum units covered:
"Can you agree to disagree better?"
"How do we identify misinformation, disinformation and evaluate bias? Even our own?"
"Are you debating or deliberating?"
Student Ambassadors
also participated in the project-based learning opportunity, planning the Spring 2023 program, "Life and Legislation: America's BIG Divide on Abortion"
Taking skills they learn in the Fall semester, many students continue into the Spring semester as Student Ambassadors. In this role, students engage in a project-based learning experience that gives all participating students the opportunity to work together to build their own APS program. In April 2023, students hosted the program, "Life and Legislation: America's BIG Divide on Abortion."
LIFE & LEGISLATION: AMERICA'S BIG DIVIDE ON ABORTION
A special student-produced program for APS
April 25, 2023 | Kansas City Public Library - Plaza
"LASTING IMPLICATIONS ON OUR GENERATION"
A topic discussed many times, but never the focus of an APS program, abortion was a topic the team at APS had "studiously avoided in the nine years we have been doing programs at American Public Square," noted Allan Katz, APS founder, chairman and CEO in a note to the APS community in the spring. However, the staff felt strongly about giving students a voice in these decisions and since they decided this was the topic that needed to be discussed, APS gave them its full support.
Believing abortion to be a topic that blurs the line between church and state, students recognized and researched at length the tension between personal choices, medical decisions and legislative implications. On Tuesday, April 25 Student ambassadors presented a program to deliberate this challenging issue.
Panelists included:
- KS Attorney General, Kris Kobach
- Rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami, Doug Alpert
- Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Megan Madrigal
- John Carney, author, commentator and advocate for pro-life, religious liberty and racial justice issues
- Author, commentator and advocate for pro-life, religious liberty and racial justice issues, Gloria Purvis
- Professor of economics at the University of Kansas, David Slusky
The moderated discussion was led by Meg Cunningham the Missouri Statehouse Reporter for The Beacon. Student Ambassadors served as the evening's Fact Checkers and Roving Reporters.
Prior to the program, Amb. Katz sat down with several Student Ambassadors to learn more about why they chose a topic that so many people often avoided.
Among the many perspectives shared, one prevailing opinion shared was that, "The decision in the Supreme Court will have really lasting implications on [the students'] generation.”
Hear more from these students in this video conversation with Amb. Katz.
COLLEGE
APS college interns, based at William Jewell College, work together to increase civic engagement on campus by hosting events and offering peers opportunities to convene and discuss pressing local, regional, and national issues.
The work done on campus by APS interns is an important extension of APS programming. Frequently, panelists who travel to Kansas City for a program also spend time on campus to meet with students and share insights on their area of expertise.
2023 Campus Event Highlights
- Hosted “The Unify Challenge” on campus for students to participate in a non-polarizing conversation with someone from across the country.
- Hosted Ryan Bernsten on campus to talk about his book and discuss if America is really as divided as it seems.
- Held a movie night in collaboration with the College Democrats and showed the film “The Reunited States.”
- Produced two Cocktails, Mocktails, and Politics events: “Religion in the Classroom” and “Women, On and Off the Hill.”
- Held and moderated a pre-Evening at the Square discussion with Margaret Talev and Michael Steel.
APS 2023 College Interns
- Jamie Schenck, International Relations and Political Science Major
- Ian Wooldridge, Political Science Major
- Alexander Walls, International Relations and Institutions & Policy Major
Photo: APS Interns Ian Wooldridge, Alexander Walls and Jamie Schenck speak to guests at a Cocktails & Politics event while featured guest, Jason Kander, looks on.
Ian Wooldridge,
APS College Intern
CEI Spotlight
APS PROGRAMS ON CAMPUS
Jamie Schenck is one of three APS interns lending her time and talent to APS during her school year. From registration to event production to wrap up, her support of APS work is indispensable.
Jamie has also been wholly instrumental in extending the APS model to the William Jewell College campus community. After attending a campus event last year, Jamie wondered if there was a way to infuse APS-style moderation in these conversations that often cover challenging and divisive topics. Capitalizing on the opportunity to align this idea, her work with APS and her work within the Honors Institute, Jamie designed and proposed a new Cardinal Conversation Series that leverages the APS program model on campus.
To date, Jamie has hosted:
- "Cocktails, Mocktails & Politics: Religion in the Classroom"
- "Cocktails, Mocktails & Politics: Women, On and Off the Hill"
"APS has been a crucial part of my college learning experience. Not only have I gained professional experience, I have expanded my viewpoints in so many ways. I have been given the opportunity to reach a different level of empathy, knowledge, and understanding through APS programming, and these experiences have truly changed me.”
-Jamie Schenck, William Jewell College student and APS intern
"I enjoyed having the ability to learn and put into practice new ideas relating to adding dialogue into my classroom. The hands on experience with coaching of ideas and practical experiences was very helpful."
-Rich Bartow, Summit Christian Academy educator and participant in the 2023 APS Educator Workshop
CEI Spotlight
EDUCATOR WORKSHOP
American Public Square believes our proven experience with the Civics Education Initiative curriculum uniquely positions the organization to support teachers and increase available resources for civility and classroom dialogue training. With that in mind, APS hosted its first educator workshop in July 2023.
Designed especially for high school education instructors, this 2.5-day workshop focused on the "Dialogic Classroom." APS partnered with Essential Partners (EP) to guide educators and share the tools to effectively host classroom dialogues. Other benefits educators report are improved quality and breadth of student engagement in class discussions, cultivation of critical thinking skills, increased connection to the school community, and improved academic performance.
APS, collaborated with Essential Partners in the development and presentation of workshop materials and activities, using a framework that has empowered hundreds of educators across the United States to lead more open, engaging classrooms.