Power Up Civics: Government for the Digital Age

What Will You Learn?

• How your personal identity and values shape your civic engagement and understanding of government.
• The structure and functions of government, including the Constitution, branches of government, and the lawmaking process.
• How to analyze and influence public policy, evaluate sources, and use digital tools to advocate for causes you care about.
• Real-world crisis response skills, including how government agencies address emergencies and how you can participate in solutions.
• Media literacy, branding, and communication strategies to build your own civic presence and make your voice heard.
• Practical leadership skills for initiating community projects and driving social impact.
• HSS-12.1: Explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.
• (For example: Analyze the influence of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Federalist Papers.)
• HSS-PoAD.12.136
• HSS-12.1.3: Explain how the U.S. Constitution reflects a balance between the classical republican concern with promotion of the public good and the classical liberal concern with protecting individual rights; and discuss how the basic premises of liberal constitutionalism and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as “self-evident truths.”
• HSS-PoAD.12.1.336
• HSS-12.4: Analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution.
• (For example: Discuss the legislative branch, the process by which a bill becomes a law, enumerated powers, checks and balances.)
• HSS-PoAD.12.45
• HSS-12.1.5: Describe the systems of separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51), the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78), enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the military.
• HSS-PoAD.12.1.55
• HSS-12.7: Analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments.
• (For example: How different levels of government interact and affect citizens’ lives.)
• HSS-PoAD.12.7
• HSS-12.7.3: Discuss reserved powers and concurrent powers of state governments, including tribal sovereignty and federalism.
• HSS-PoAD.12.7.3
• HSS-12.2.1: Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy).
• (For example: Establishment Clause, free speech, "In God We Trust" debates.)
• HSS-PoAD.12.2.1
• HSS-12.5.1: Understand the changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights over time, including interpretations of the basic freedoms (religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly) articulated in the First Amendment and the due process and equal-protection-of-the-law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
• HSS-PoAD.12.5.16
• HSS-12.8.1: Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press.
• (For example: Free speech vs. cancel culture, digital privacy.)
• HSS-PoAD.12.8.1