During the first week in August the Clovis Veterans Memorial District hosted their 1st annual American Citizens’ Toolkit (ACT) Student Leadership Program.
High school students from the area participating in this program learned the value of teamwork and took a deep dive into the U.S. Constitution. The goal of this program was to help students gain a greater awareness of their civic duties while becoming well informed citizens.
Throughout the week, the students took part in various leadership and team building exercises, and immersed themselves in a curriculum regarding the U.S. Constitution and its components.
“This was designed to be a leadership program because we realize what we’re asking the students to do is exercise their voice and really provide some respite in this tenseful situation, by providing some insight that everyone has a lot of opportunity,” said Lorenzo Rios, CEO of the Clovis Veterans Memorial District.
Local Veterans served as mentors and provided aid to students throughout the week. These veterans gave presentations about the organizations they represent and spoke to students about scholarship opportunities.
“Those who benefit from those who protected those freedoms should do something to make the sacrifice of that 1% matter. And the ultimate thing to do is make sure that you live a life well lived, where you pursue your dreams and you remember your responsibility to support and defend the Constitution,” said Rios.
The first day was focused on having the students learn about their fears and overcoming them. This comes from the idea that as leaders, they must overcome their fear of being challenged by those with opposing ideas.
The next two days were a mixture of both interactive engagement and team building.
The fourth day consisted of students engaging in case studies where they analyzed Supreme Court cases. The students learned the facts of the cases and studied both sides of the argument. They then had the chance to debate both sides.
On the final day students identified current issues, then think of ways to take action as young citizens. Students were then challenged to look forward and determine what they want to address within their campuses and communities.
The program curriculum was built to equip students for active engagement, with an understanding of the constitutional principles that are the basis of the United States government, and are necessary to interpret modern political issues.
“Ultimately, we want to see an informed citizenry that is engaged with their government systems, and they use their voice. There’s a lot of opportunity, and we want to encourage them to do something with these freedoms, ” said Rios.
As part of the curriculum, each student was educated on the history behind the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The students learned about the six principles of the U.S. Constitution: limited government, republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, and popular sovereignty.
The program was established to create an environment that kept the energies of everyone focused on the material, and to present the material in a manner that allowed for individual interpretation. This encouraged each student to apply their own cultural norms and values to the material so they could come to their own understanding, and apply that knowledge to their lives.
The dialogues that took place during the week were used to encourage the students to assess why the context and history of the U.S. Constitution is important to them.
“That action empowered them, the students, to realize that they can respectfully disagree with others, but are not victims. They are very capable agents that can move forward and express themselves because of some protections that were established in the Constitution,” said Rios.
At the end of the week, the students attended a graduation where they were honored for their dedication and completion of the program.
“I was inspired to have the the opportunity of working with fellow veterans here; where we all work together to create an environment for the students to ask some hard questions and to grow personally and professionally, and see how they interpret things,” said Rios.
The Clovis Veterans Memorial District hopes to continue this program so more students have the opportunity to learn the history of the United States government and become well informed citizens.
You can watch a recap of the weeks events on the Clovis Veterans Memorial District Youtube channel.