Institute for Citizenship
Grounded in the school's mission to prepare students for a life of meaningful contribution, the St. George's Institute for Citizenship offers dynamic academic lessons and real-world learning opportunities to juniors and seniors who are selected to participate in this prestigious program. Through supplemental coursework and off-campus experiences, students grapple with what it means to be an engaged citizen both now and in the future, focusing on the regional, national, global, and environmental interplay.
Launched in 2010 and made possible, in part, by a $50,000 grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation, the Institute for Citizenship spurs students to consider and address some of the most challenging questions facing our local, national and global communities. The Institute is led by a director who oversees the program and teaches the classes. Students who are selected participate in an intensive, two-year long course covering civic engagement, current events, and entrepreneurship. Students in the Institute set the vision for the year, committing to an area of service and determining what global issues and current events to follow closely.
The Institute’s sponsor then arranges opportunities for students to tangibly interact with the issues at hand, including service and educational trips to our nation’s largest cities, Skype conversations with students around the globe, and discussions with global business leaders. Through the Institute, our students are challenged to connect with the world around them in a way that is not always easy but is essential. These students then sponsor conversations with our school community at large, prompting each St. George’s student to consider the world and life beyond our walls.
A practicum of work, internship, or service in the summer between the junior and senior year is strongly recommended, and students in the program are asked to focus their Senior Independent Study project, a graduation requirement at St. George's, on some aspect of regional, national, global, or environmental citizenship.
