State Bar of Wisconsin

Project Citizen

The Project Citizen civic education program promotes competent and responsible participation in state and local government. It’s designed for students in upper elementary, middle school, and high school civics education.

Project Citizen actively engages students in learning how to monitor and influence public policy.

As a class project, students work together to:

• Identify and study a public policy issue
• Evaluate options
• Select a solution to the problem
• Develop an action plan to solve the problem

Portfolios

The final product is a portfolio displaying each group’s work. The class then presents its portfolio in a simulated legislative hearing, demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of how public policy is formulated.

• Classes may also enter their portfolios in a local competition with other classes.
• Local winners submit their portfolios for a statewide competition, and the state winner goes on to be evaluated in the Project Citizen National Showcase.
• Portfolios can also be shown at schools locally or at the State Bar’s annual showcase.

Project Citizen is administered nationally by the Center for Civic Education in cooperation with the National Conference of State Legislatures. Locally it is administered by the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Program contacts

To involve your students in the program and be eligible to receive a free classroom set of Project Citizen materials ($150 value, limited supply), teachers and civic educators may contact:

Jack Jarmes
Project Citizen State Coordinator
S80 W19320 Highland Park Drive
Muskego, WI 53150
(262) 679-8919
jackjarmes@yahoo.com

Marsha Varvil-Weld
State Bar of Wisconsin
5302 Eastpark Blvd.
Madison, WI 53718
(608) 250-6191
Fax: (608) 257-5502
mvarvil-weld@wisbar.org

Read the rationale and see critical acclaim for Project Citizen