Virginia Civics Education

We the People Competitions Over two in-person We the People qualifying competitions, an in-person Middle & High School We the People State Finals, support for teams qualifying for the We the People National Finals, and school- based We the People competitions, VA Civics supported over 600 competitive We the People students in the 2023 fiscal year. 65 volunteers from private, public, and nonprofit sectors donated their time as judges, timers, and facilitators. A significant portion of staff time to run these events, logistics of the events themselves ($15,583.50), and the cost for awards ($3,352.18) were supported by general operating dollars from individual donors.

James Madison Legacy Project Expansion Teacher Training Over the 2022-23 academic year (JMLPE Year 1), VA Civics supported the training of four teachers who attended professional development workshops in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Two teachers received a $1,000 teacher consultancy stipend and two received a $1,500 stipend paid by a subgrant from the Center for Civic Education. This subgrant also provided $2,200 for six months of support for a We the People State Coordinator. Teachers from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 training cohorts have grown participation in the We the People program to 82 schools and over 8,000 students in Virginia. For the 2023-2024 academic year (JMLPE Year 2), VA Civics supported the training of 16 middle and high school teachers with four mentor teachers, through a five-day Summer Institute at James Madison's Montpelier. Scholar and mentor expenses totaling $7,700, lodging and venue expenses totaling $25,042, teacher stipends totaling $6,400, travel reimbursements totaling $3,382.78, meals totaling $5,425.27, and funds for the We the People State Coordinator salary totaling $9,932 were covered by a subgrant from the Center for Civic Education.

We the People Teacher Training, 2022-2023 Cohort VA Civics provided a four-day virtual Summer Institute, two virtual one-day follow-up trainings, and two in-person one-day follow-up training to a cohort of We the People teachers for the 2022-2023 school year. The cohort consisted of 13 teachers and three mentor teachers from schools around Virginia who are committed to using the We the People curriculum in their classroom. For the 22-23 cohort, scholar and mentor expenses for the year of training equal to $4,200, textbooks totaling $9,422.56, in-person event logistics totaling $21,622.21, teacher travel reimbursements totaling $1,925.32, and staff time and administration for running each event were supported by a $20,000 gift from a charitable foundation.