The necessary work of educating for a diverse democracy calls for supporting students not only in civility but also in civic engagement. K–12 educators know it’s critical their students develop the civic competencies to fully engage in the democratic process, whether that is at the community, local, state or national level.
To help teachers build these competencies, we’re excited to announce that this summer TT is funding projects that involve students in non-partisan voter registration and turnout efforts. If you have a project that will help students become empowered voting advocates in their communities or one that encourages older high school students to register and vote, apply for a Diverse Democracy Grant. Grants awards range from $500 to $5,000 for classroom or school projects and up to $10,000 for projects on the district level. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until August 31, 2018.
Additionally, throughout this summer and into the fall, Teaching Tolerance will offer new resources for educators, including guides for supporting student-led voter registration drives, texts and lessons for teaching about voting and its history, IDMs for encouraging students to research and debate key topics in election law and class projects for connecting your school and your community through democratic engagement.
We look forward to sharing these resources with you—and to seeing what you share with us!
We’ll begin accepting applications for our Diverse Democracy Grants immediately. If you’re looking for suggestions for crafting your grant, read our article Teaching Tolerance Educator Grant Writing for Beginners.
If you’re looking for inspiration—either for preparing a grant or for planning ways to engage your students in the upcoming election season—please revisit our collection of Voting and Election Resources. You might also check out these TT articles, texts and lessons:
Who Would a Literary Character Vote For?
In this short article, a ninth-grade English language arts teacher—and TT Award winner—offers a creative way for teaching about political candidates.
Expanding Voting Rights
This series of five lessons examines voting rights in the early republic, during Reconstruction, through the women’s suffrage movement and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the 26th Amendment.
StoryCorps: Registering to Vote
This text is a conversation between Theresa Burroughs and her daughter, Toni Love. It was recorded for StoryCorps, a nonprofit oral history organization seeking to collect and preserve the diverse stories of people throughout the United States.
Teach This: When Is a Repeal Really a Repeal?
This short article based on the North Carolina Legislature’s debates of their controversial “bathroom bill” provides a model of how teachers can connect students with the types of issues up for debate in state and local elections.
A District Profile: Black Lives Matter at School
This feature article from Teaching Tolerance magazine offers a model of how schools can engage students on important issues.
Youth—United #Enough!
In this series, we caught up with young people around the country to learn what they’re doing to keep their schools and communities safe from gun violence. Several of our interviewees discussed the ways this topic has moved them to activism—and how they’re translating that activism into civic action.
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