Robust civic education challenges young Nebraskans to be active and informed citizens while giving them opportunities to make meaningful change. Equipped with civic knowledge, young people can join with others to serve and improve society, and even find leadership roles within their communities.

Civic Nebraska’s Youth Civic Leadership Programs – a half-dozen before- and after-school programs in Lincoln and Omaha, outside-of-school middle-school civics clubs in Omaha, and student-led service learning in towns and cities across the state – expand students’ horizons so they can critically and creatively engage with the world right now. In 2022, Youth Civic Leadership expanded its efforts, activities, and resources to embolden K-12 students to become responsible citizens. Those efforts include:

›› Writing, curating, and publishing a series of free online civics lessons, actions, and assets for Nebraska educators of all grade levels;

›› Repackaging our popular middle-school service-learning, empowerment, and civic journalism clubs into a single program, Civic Circles, and rolling it out at a pair of Omaha middle schools;

›› Collaborating with national partners such as civXNow and iCivics to help craft a state civics policy;

›› Continuing and expanding our community outreach to guarantee seamless support for the students, families, and neighborhoods served by our school-based programs; and

›› Expanding service-learning programs across Greater Nebraska through our Center of Excellence based out of our Grand Island headquarters.

“We The People” means our youngest citizens, too. That’s why Civic Nebraska starts early with civics enrichment and reinforcement: to help young people develop the building blocks of democratic citizenship such as critical thinking, civic leadership, and civil discourse. These skills have incredible transformative power for both individuals and their communities – and they are a launch pad for powerful, lifelong citizenship.