Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting the award winners for our Strengthening Democracy Awards on April 24th at the International Quilt Studies Museum in Lincoln. You can buy tickets here.
Great programs do not build themselves. They require dedicated and passionate advocates. Randy Ernst is one of those advocates for engaging youth in our community in substantive ways that foster citizenship, critical thinking, and project based learning. He currently is the Social Studies Curriculum Specialist for Lincoln Public Schools.
Three years ago with the help of then Lincoln High Social Studies Department Chair, JP Caruso, Civic Nebraska approached Randy Ernst to talk about ways a community organization could assist teachers and the district in engaging youth in our community through substantive service learning. Since then Randy has been an invaluable advocate for expanding project based service learning particularly in the 9th grade civics classrooms. He has convened teachers to create service learning curriculum, coordinated social studies department heads to emphasize the project based learning model, and supported new and dynamic ways to engage youth in our community.
Randy’s dedication to building a more modern and robust democracy among youth has allowed Civic Nebraska to bring more resources for service learning to youth and teachers in Lincoln Public Schools. For his dedication and that reason, he truly is an outstanding administrator.