|
|
|
|
federal standards (PDF)
|
|
|
|
|
Capitol Forum on America's Future
Co-sponsored with the Nebraska Secretary of State, Capitol Forum encourages high school students to better understand American democratic values and examine global issues facing the U.S. Students participate in discussions and deliberations with their peers from across the state and members of our elected congressional delegation.
Humanities Council seeks teachers for Capitol Forum
Applications must be in by May 15 for Nebraska high school teachers who want to participate in the 12 th annual Nebraska Capitol Forum on America’s Future.
Twenty-five teachers statewide will be selected to participate in the program.
Capitol Forum is designed to engage high school students in a discussion of our nation’s future in a changing international environment. Each year, nearly 1,400 students from participating schools learn the complexity of world politics and their role as active, informed citizens in the political process. Among the timely issues to be discussed are immigration, nuclear weapon proliferation, terrorism, environmental concerns, and trade and the global economy.
Two one-day workshops in August and February help teachers integrate forum curriculum into their classrooms and prepare for Capitol Forum Day. Each features a distinguished guest speaker on a global issue relevant to the program.
Each teacher will select up to four students to participate in the forum March 29 at the State Capitol. During the forum, student representatives will report and deliberate over the international concerns of their classmates. The day culminates in a dialogue among the students and elected officials. During the recent 2009 forum, 89 students from throughout Nebraska gathered to discuss global issues among themselves and with U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns and U.S. Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terry and Adrian Smith.
After the day-long forum, teachers and students lead their classmates through a two-day lesson plan to complete a Nebraska Student Ballot on America’s Future. Ballot results are distributed to participating Nebraska high schools, news media, and state and federal elected officials.
Participating teachers receive free curriculum units and other materials to engage their students in study and discussion. Funding is available for travel stipends and classroom substitutes.
The Nebraska Humanities Council presents Capitol Forum in collaboration with the office of Secretary of State John Gale and the Choices for the 21st Century Project, an outreach of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.
The 2009 Capitol Forum was funded in part by the Cooper Foundation, A to Z Printing, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and a state appropriation by the Nebraska Legislature. Capitol Forum conforms to Nebraska social studies and reading/writing standards. To receive information on the alignment with state standards, or to apply to the program, write to: Nebraska Humanities Council, 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 330, Lincoln, NE 68508.
A printable application form is available on the Capitol Forum page of the NHC website at www.nebraskahumanities.org. For more details, contact Erika Hamilton at (402) 474-2131, fax (402) 474-4852, or e-mail erika@nebraskahumanities.org.
U.S. lawmakers participate in Capitol Forum
LINCOLN—All five members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation participated in the 11th annual Nebraska Capitol Forum on America’s Future on March 30 at the State Capitol.
U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns and U.S. Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terry and Adrian Smith participated via video conferencing from Washington, D.C. The delegation answered foreign policy questions from a group of 90 high school students as part of a daylong forum in which the students discuss the U.S. role in today’s world. The forum is a collaboration of the Nebraska Humanities Council and Secretary of State John Gale.
The students and their teachers represented 21 high schools in Lincoln, Omaha, Ashland, Bellevue, Cairo, Dodge, Falls City, Genoa, Hampton, Hastings, Hemingford, Holdrege, Howells, Norfolk, North Platte, Springfield, Stella, Sterling, Sumner and Wilcox.
Capitol Forum is a civic education initiative designed to give high school students a voice in public policy. For six months, students have studied and deliberated foreign policy issues in the classroom. Student representatives from each school engaged in discussion among themselves and with policymakers on such issues as immigration, nuclear weapon proliferation, terrorism, international trade, and the global environment. They deliberated on four distinct options for the future of U.S. foreign policy, culminating in a conversation with members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation.
The day began at 8:30 a.m. with a welcome by Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy in the Warner Chamber. Deliberation on the four futures began at 1:25 p.m. The students’ conversation with the congressional delegation was at 2:45 p.m.
Teachers and students returned home to share their experiences with classmates, broadening the impact of Capitol Forum to more than 1,200 students statewide. Classes will complete a ballot describing their view of America’s future role in the world. Ballot results will be compiled and distributed to elected officials, Nebraska schools and news media.
Capitol Forum is a Choices for the 21st Century project, an outreach educational program of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.
In Nebraska, Capitol Forum is funded in part by the Cooper Foundation, A to Z Printing, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and a state appropriation by the Nebraska Legislature.
|
Phone 402-474-2131 or e-mail nhc@nebraskahumanities.org |
 Return Home |