Citizenship Education Task Force

Steering Committee Meeting

 

A Reminder to ALL

The next meeting of the full Task Force is scheduled for Jan.13, 2005,

10:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the Augusta Armory, Room 209.

If you haven’t already, please save the date!

 

Please RSVP to Dara Kidder at 581-4133 or dara.kidder@umit.maine.edu.

 

 

Date:

December 13, 2004, 11am to 2pm

Meeting location:

Cross State Office Building, Commissioner’s Office

Notes compiled by:

Kathy Hunt and Dara Kidder

Chair(s) / Facilitator(s):

Kathy Hunt

Members present:

Nancy Connolly, Patrick Phillips, Susan Corrente, Jim Carignan, Fran Rudoff, Kerry Salvo, Tamara Heligman, Liz McCabe Park, Stacy Smith, Pam Anderson, Kathy Hunt and Dara Kidder

 

 

Agenda Item(s):

Major Points of Discussion:

 

1.Welcome & Introductions

Kathy Hunt opened the meeting as the new co-facilitator of the Task Force. Patrick Phillips and Susan Corrente have been working to hand off this duty to Kathy Hunt and Dara Kidder.

 

2. Approval of Minutes from 11/19/04 Steering Cmte

Minutes were approved.

 

3. Update on Patrick’s Travels (The Second Congressional Conference on Civic Education)

Patrick, David Trahan, and Nathaniel Yellis attended the conference in D.C. Patrick described it as inspirational, and was able to extract some useful information, discussions & graphics to bring back to the Task Force such as:

* A copy of Lee Hamilton’s speech, which he hopes to obtain

* A data booklet “American Attitudes on Civic Education”

 

Patrick also noted that one of the challenges of the CETF will be to effectively synthesize and leverage all of the resources that are available. Patrick mentioned that Rep. David Trahan is interested in starting a legislative caucus on citizenship education and the importance of the civic mission of Maine schools.

 

4. Web-Based Tour of Information Resources

Kathy distributed a packet of front pages to some national civic engagement Web sites. Kathy welcomed the input of additional links. These links will be distributed to the group. Patrick handed off his Advocacy toolkit to Dara, which contains several more resources.

 

5. Review of Subcommittee Budgets—Discussion of Budget Revisions & Grant Workplan

Each group presented their preliminary budget estimates to the Steering Committee.

(1) Higher Education--$15,710

(2) Best Practices--$28,500

(3) Broadening the Coalition--$42,500

(4) Youth Voice & Leadership--$6,600

*Let it be noted that most, if not all, groups had overlapping workplans, and will be able to share costs in this way. Kathy and Dara will draw up a matrix of the subcommittees, tasks, timelines, and estimated costs to be reviewed at the next meeting.

*The Learning Results subcommittee has yet to announce a budget & timeline.

6. Review of Cooperative Agreement Proposal, The Muskie Institute

Steering Committee approved the LYAC budget of $15,000 for one year, as well as the work specifications.

7. Discussion of Next Steps Needed to Develop Overall Communications Plan/ Campaign

After hearing each of the subcommittee’s initial plans and budget proposals, Kathy observed five common themes addressed collectively by the subcommittees:

1.a strong focus on collecting examples of best practice (K-16)

2.a commitment to fostering dialogue & engagement

3.the preparation of hard resources (resource guides, Web sites, etc.)

4.funding to schools (K-16) & communities to do “the good work”

5.a desire to disseminate information to schools (K-16) and communities across Maine

 

The question then posed to the group was, “What three things does the CETF want to have accomplished at the end of the 2-yr grant?”

Responses ranged from increased discussion, to greater capacity for civic engagement, to greater structural opportunities, to real changes in schools, to greater understanding & support among policy makers, to more service learning. An initial set of priorities was suggested:

 

1.greater structural opportunities for young people to get involved in public life and in the governance of their schools (K-16).

2.greater legislative and public awareness of the importance and urgency of the civic mission of schools.

3.vehicles for recognizing the “champions” of civic engagement from various schools (K-16), communities and among youth

4.project sustained beyond the current grant period through additional funding initiatives and the redirection of professional development funds.

5. development of a civic index for Maine (i.e., North Carolina’s hallmarks of an engaged citizen)

6. creation of new comprehensive models of civic/citizenship education

 

*Also, there seemed to be a need for the distinction as to whether civic engagement or citizenship education should be the Task Force’s main emphasis.

8. Additions to CETF, Subcommittees or Both:

Those Approved for Nomination:

* Rep. David Trahan has been invited to join the Task Force

* Marwin Spiller, UMaine, has been invited to join the Voice & Leadership subcommittee

* Laura Lindenfield, UMaine, has been invited to join the Best Practices subcommittee.

 

Other potentially beneficial contacts will be nominated as needed by the subcommittees, and approved by the Steering Committee.

9. KIDS Consortium Conference—June 27, 2005

Fran confirmed the date for this conference; Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone will give the keynote address; Fran indicated there will be ample space and opportunity for CETF-sponsored forums and initiatives to take place.

 

Next Steps:

Task 1: At its Jan 4 meeting, the Steering Committee will draft an overall workplan and communications strategy to be reviewed by the full task force on Jan 13

To be carried out by: Kathy and Dara to prepare initial template for SC discussion—see agenda item 5

Task 2: The Youth Voice and Leadership subcommittee will develop a plan to increase its membership as well as to fulfill the membership requirements for youth (as spelled out in the proposal) on other subcommittees.

To be carried out by: Tamara, Kerry, Nancy, Dara and Kathy

Task 3: The Best Practices and Broadening the Coalition subcommittees will meet to discuss shared goals and priorities and the ways in which they might work together.

To be carried out by: Jim, Fran, Stacy, Pam and subcommittee members

 

Next Meeting Date/Time:

Jan. 4th, 2005, 10am-2pm

Location:

room   room541 of the Cross Office Building, Augusta

Items for Next Meeting Agenda:

review of budget revisions, workplans & timeline; development of an overall strategy/campaign to be presented to the full Task Force for review/discussion