Kentucky Court of Justice
Seven student teams to compete in state showcase for We the People: Project Citizen on May 18 in Frankfort

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Student teams from four Kentucky middle schools and two elementary schools will compete Tuesday, May 18, in the state showcase for We the People: Project Citizen at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort. The winning team will be eligible to have its entry sent to the national showcase for judging in July, when the showcase will be held in Louisville for the first time.

The student teams that will participate in the showcase are from T.K. Stone Middle School in Elizabethtown, Elkhorn Middle School in Frankfort, Roosevelt-Perry Elementary School in Louisville, Monticello Middle School in Monticello, Eastern Elementary School in Pleasureville and Paducah Middle School in Paducah. A Project Citizen team from Henry County High School will give a presentation on its project but will not compete. The competition is limited to fifth through eighth grades.

Awards will be announced Tuesday afternoon.

The Kentucky Court of Justice and the Center for Civic Education in California are co-sponsors of the We the People: Project Citizen program for Kentucky.

Project Citizen is a hands-on, portfolio-based civic education program that promotes participation in local and state government by teaching students about the public policy process and encouraging civic involvement. The program helps students learn how to monitor and influence public policy.

Each year, student teams in fifth through eighth grades have the opportunity to enter their Project Citizen portfolios and accompanying research binders in the state showcase for judging. They also give a presentation on their entry and answer questions from judges.

For their project, Project Citizen teams identify and analyze issues and problems facing their communities and address one of the issues. The issue or problem must be one that could be addressed through public policy, such as a law or regulation. The groups gather information about the issue, examine policies and develop an action plan detailing the steps that need to be taken to have the appropriate school, government or other entity implement their public policy proposal. The final product is a stand-up portfolio displaying each group’s work and an accompanying binder documenting its research.

The team with the winning portfolio and binder at the state level is eligible to have them judged at the national Project Citizen showcase, where the judges are state legislators, legislative staff and educators. Teams do not give a project presentation on the national level and most are not present at the showcase. The national showcase is held each year as part of the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit.

 National judging for this year’s state-title-winning Project Citizen entries from across the country will take place July 25-28 in Louisville during the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit.

Henry County Middle School won the 2009 state showcase with an entry on energy conservation and went on to earn the top rating of Superior at the national Project Citizen showcase. 

Project Citizen is one of the many youth-related programs offered through the Kentucky Court of Justice and administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort.  

The AOC is the operational arm of the Kentucky Court of Justice and supports the activities of approximately 3,422 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. The AOC also executes the Judicial Branch budget.