K2H Civic Futures

The K2H Civic Futures AmeriCorps Program engages AmeriCorps Members in national service focused on developing and supporting community-based learning for youth from kindergarten through graduate school, connecting academic content with real-world issues in a way that allows youth to be part of a solution for change. Through the Civic Futures program, K-12 and higher education institutions will strengthen a pipeline for civic learning and engagement, creating opportunities for youth to be meaningfully involved in their communities regardless of their starting point.

“…we are challenged by the need to ensure that higher education shall take its proper place in our national effort to strengthen democracy at home and to improve our understanding of our friends and neighbors everywhere in the world. A carefully developed program to strengthen higher education, taken together with a program for the support of elementary and secondary education, will inevitably strengthen our Nation and enrich the lives of our citizens.”
– Harry S. Truman

For more information, contact Matt Farley, Director, AmeriCorps Programs at mfarley@compact.org.

Program Goals

1. Develop, expand, or support evidence-based civic learning and engagement programs in K-12 or community-based sites
2. Create reciprocal partnerships between K-12 schools, community-based organizations focused on civic learning and engagement, and higher education partners that will be sustained after national service grant funding ends
3. Expand civic engagement opportunities for K-12 youth
4. Expand civic learning opportunities for K-12 youth

Evidence-Based Program Models

Project Citizen
Project Citizen is a civic education program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students and youth or adult groups. Project Citizen promotes competent and responsible participation in state, local, and federal government. It actively engages people in learning how to monitor and influence public policy. Participants work together as a class or extracurricular group to identify and study a public policy issue. The final product is a portfolio that may be presented before other classes, groups, community organizations, or policymakers.

Public Achievement
Public Achievement (PA) is an international, youth-led, civic engagement initiative that seeks to promote student voice and transformative change for individuals and communities. Undergraduates serve as PA coaches alongside K-12 students in public schools. Together students participate in a year-long cycle of inquiry and action around school and community-based social justice issues. All participants gain insight on community leadership, the foundations of social change, and the power of relationships.

We the People
We the People promotes civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s upper elementary and secondary students. The We the People printed textbook and Enhanced book offer interactive strategies, relevant content, and a simulated congressional hearing that make teaching and learning exciting for both students and teachers. The program enjoys active support from state bar associations and foundations, and other educational, professional, business, and community organizations across the nation. Since its inception in 1987, more than 28 million students and 75,000 educators have participated in the We the People Program.

Program Benefits

Civic Health Collaborative

• Furthering the work of the P-20 Civic Learning & Engagement work group
• Expanding partnerships specific to civic health
• Extending Civic Learning & Engagement opportunities to additional P-20 partnerships

K-12 Schools

• Implementing or expanding civic learning & engagement opportunities to students
• Strengthening partnerships with higher education institutions
• Receiving assessment and evaluation support to determine program impacts

Civic Futures

• Strengthening partnerships with K-12 schools
• Providing opportunities for student engagement
• Connecting with other anchor institutions around civic health
• Student leadership development

Campus Compact

• Providing direct program benefits to member institutions
• Supporting the goals of the Civic Health Collaborative
• Aligning resources with P-20 civic learning and engagement priorities

Program Structure

• Provide AmeriCorps Members to implement or expand civic learning and engagement programs in K-12 schools or in community-based organizations in partnership with higher education institutions
• Part-time and full-time AmeriCorps Members are placed at both higher education and K-12/community partner sites to support program and partnership development and implementation

• Part-time AmeriCorps Members serve a minimum of 300 hours in one year as Civic Mentors and receive an education award of about $1,311

  • Part-time Members can be students recruited from academic or co-curricular programs aligned with the goals of K-H partnership development and civic learning and engagement initiatives

  • Part-time Members can provide direct instruction or student support, either during class or through extended-day programming o Hours served through AmeriCorps can overlap with hours dedicated to curricular or co-curricular programs as long as the AmeriCorps hours exceed any hours required through the curricular or co-curricular programs

• Full-time AmeriCorps Members serve a minimum of 1,700 hours in one year as Civic Navigators and receive a $14,280 living stipend and an education award commensurate with a Pell Grant.

• Full-time Members can be students, can be recruited from within the community, or can be recruited through the national AmeriCorps recruitment system

• Full-time Members can provide training to part-time Members, serve directly with K-12 students, support K-H partnership development, focus on grant writing and resource development in support of a civic learning and engagement program, assist with Civic Health & Equity mapping and assessment, and serve as liaisons between the K-12/community partner site(s) and the higher education partner

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