When you fill out a TWiST Form you have done a lot.
But, you can do more.
Get ACP's Open Caucus or Action Cooperatives activities going in your community.
Get others to fill out a TWiST Form so they have a say in what gets done.
Open Caucus (OC) is a creative online and community-based civic activity for high school classes. It's a series of creative social studies activities that teachers can incorporate into their high school lesson plans for 10th - 12th Grades. OC’s activities bring current news topics and long-term societal challenges into the classroom and bring the social studies classroom into the community. With OC, students use art and new media as tools for civic engagement.
In addition to providing an active learning supplement in-class, OC allows students to engage in the political process beyond the classroom. In December 2007, OC brought 27 OC students and teachers to the Heartland Presidential Forum in Des Moines, IA to create a documentary film. Students were supervised by the award-winning documentary filmmaker, Linda Goode Bryant!
All materials for the OC activities are provided for FREE. ACP exists to expand the role and relevance of people and communities in the political process. Since 2004, ACP has conducted OC in classrooms in 28 cities.
Teachers, check out the OC materials by clicking here.
This Spring, students from across the country will be participating in EATS, a social action food project.
At a time when food prices and barriers to food access are rising, EATS will provide moderate- and low-income communities with improved access to affordable nutritional food.
With EATS, schools across the country are partnering with community organizations and social entrepreneurs to design and test a model that provides access to local, fresh food in communities in need. Teacher's Preparatory School in Brownsville, the site of the EATS pilot, has received funding to support the creation of an elective entirely dedicated to EATS next semester, and we are also beginning to establish partnerships community activists, designers, artists, farmers, and more.
EATS and your school:
Our satellite schools are crucial to this project, and participating students will get first-hand community-based experience in a variety of subjects; from organizing, to history, to nutrition, to business, to research, design, marketing and more! EATS students will collaborate in community meetings and online with students and community organizations across the country to engage community members to aid in the creation of an urban farm and store in NYC. Students able to help with farming will get the opportunity in May to help transplant seedlings and plant new products in EATS gardens across the community.
As always with Open Caucus, ACP will provide students with the resources necessary to take action in their communities- entirely free of charge.
What does EATS registration require from you?
How do I join?
This is a very exciting and innovative project that gives your students the opportunity to create real change. The deadline for registration for the project is February 2nd, 2009. Click here to download our EATS registration form.