Civic Learning
In classrooms, after-school programs, and other spaces, civic learning enables young people to find their voices, shape priorities in their communities and become civically engaged in their futures.
Education and community building are critical to creating places where families can thrive, but civic learning is key to the long-term success of communities and the people who live there. Maher Charitable Foundation has begun funding programs to support enhanced civic learning in New Jersey.
Civically Engaged Districts is an afterschool program for high school students that engages them in youth civic action research. Young people identify issues in their schools and communities, learn tools of inquiry, and conduct research with the goal of affecting those problems. As participating students investigate, analyze, and speak with authority on issues that directly affect them and their communities, they develop civic skills (inquiry, collaboration, communication), a sense of belonging, and firsthand experience of active civic engagement.
Maher Charitable Foundation invested in 2022 to expand this program so that more schools across New Jersey can offer CED to their students. Through a yearlong series of professional development and networking opportunities, teachers and supervisors across NJ public schools are working with the Rutgers Graduate School of Education to create a supportive, extended community of civic practitioners who can foster the formation of “civic ecosystems” that nurture the civic development of youth and adults.
In 2023, Maher Charitable Foundation is partnering with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars to offer Civic Spring Fellowships to three youth-centered nonprofits in New Jersey, leading civic engagement initiatives.
