The 2025 Civic Education Summit
Cultivating Civic Champions: Advancing Civic Curiosity & Joy
Friday, March 14th, 2025
with preconference sessions Thursday, March 13th ]
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Museum
The
MiCivics Coalition
because nourishing the roots of democracy requires all of us
Purpose
Like the tree of 40 fruit, each one of us has our unique expressions within our democracy. Our goal as a society and as a coalition, is to ensure the health of the tree. A tree can only flourish when its roots are firmly planted - for us that means rooted in principles of Constitutional democracy with as many opportunities to practice the skills and dispositions. Understanding multiple perspectives come together to nourish the soil of democracy.
Desired Future State
The MiCivics Coalition desires a future where every person has the learning opportunities, skills, and pathways to meaningfully participate in civic life. The Coalition cultivates civic education champions in all communities for a more robust and vibrant civic society.
Evolution
Michigan’s future is a reflection of what we teach and what civic education opportunities exist today. That sentiment brought numerous concerned individuals together to begin dialogue on Michigan’s civic future.
Starting with dialogue, interviews, focus groups, and collaboration, the group began to identify itself as the MiCivics Coalition. The evolving vision of the MiCivics Coalition is to create a Michigan where every person has the opportunities, knowledge, and skills to participate meaningfully in the civic life of their communities. To do so, the group concentrates on three working areas: education, outreach, and policy. The MiCivics Coalition seeks to cultivate civic education champions in the State of Michigan and empower them to act towards the vision of a more robust and meaningful civic experience for our students.
At the same time as Michigan’s intentional collaboration and cooperation was developing steam with additional partners and goals, CivXNow was concurrently creating its own coalition work at the national and state levels to support civic education goals. MiCivics has continued to grow with support of CivicXNow field work. Supporting listening tours and collective cooperation, the Coalition seeks to continuously grow in scope, representation, and reach.
Listening Tour Findings
Understanding the Civic Education Michiganders Want
Throughout 2022, MiCivics Coalition members began a series of 8 listening tours through Upper and Lower Michigan. Future plans are to expand the scope in order to hear from all Michiganders about their preferred civic futures.
Preliminary Data & Outcomes - Pathways for the Future of Civic Education These trends emerged which provide opportunities to operationalize the needs of Michiganders.
The five emerging themes are:
Greater emphasis and resources for teaching state, local, and community civics and provide more local civic engagement opportunities.
Greater investment in K-8, especially K-5 civic knowledge. Reimagine embedding all other disciplines through a strong civics lens.
Greater emphasis on place based and experiential learning to bring civics to life and to demystify political participation.
Greater breadth and depth of teacher, administrator, and community civics knowledge, practices, and engagement.
Significantly greater financial investment in civic education and civic communities with a focus on those areas identified here.
The MiCivics Coalition Partners
Coalition partners pledge to ensure that every person acquires the civic knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary for informed, authentic, and engaged civic participation. Organizational or individual participation in the coalition at large should not be construed as participation in all of these functions. Rather, organizational or individual membership denotes support for these overall goals and are willing to lend their affiliation to visibly demonstrate their support for the mission and vision of the MiCivics Coalition. Below are the current members to the MiCivics Coalition!
Organizational Partners
Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University
Michigan Center for Civic Education
Michigan Council for the Social Studies
Michigan Council on Economic Education
Michigan Department of Civil Rights
Upshur Institute for Civic Education – Eastern Michigan University
Learn more about the organizations supporting the coalition nationwide here.
The MiCivics Coalition Partners
Coalition partners pledge to ensure that every person acquires the civic knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary for informed, authentic, and engaged civic participation. Organizational or individual participation in the coalition at large should not be construed as participation in all of these functions. Rather, organizational or individual membership denotes support for these overall goals and are willing to lend their affiliation to visibly demonstrate their support for the mission and vision of the MiCivics Coalition. Below are the current members to the MiCivics Coalition!
Individual Partners
- Hon. Lisa Babcock, 54b District Court Judge
- Hillary Baker, Director of Instruction, Board Member MCCE
- Fatima Bolyea, Attorney, Washington Twp.
- Kevin Boyd, Teacher, Calumet
- Fawn Cameron, Durand
- Helen Craig, Social Studies Consultant
- Elizabeth Donovan, EMU College of Engineering & Technology
- Linda Doornbos, Oakland University
- Aaron Grenier, Teacher, Fowlerville
- Shannon Headley, Teacher
- Thomas Heasley, Teacher, Farmington Hills
- LaNiece Jackson, Teacher, Flint
- David Johnson, Instructional Consultant, Northern Michigan Learning Consortium
- Kimberly Jones, Director of Innovative Inclusion, Board Member MCCE
- Marsha Lewis, Administrator, Detroit
- Rita Lockridge, Retired Teacher, Oak Park
- Brian Long, Teacher
- Kevin Lorentz, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Freeland
Individual Partners
- Collene McCormack, Ludington
- Angelo Moreno, East Lansing Public Library
- Bill Ormerod, Teacher, Clarenceville
- Susan Palmiter, MDE
- Kim Pittel, Teacher
- Eric Roberts, Law Student, MCCE Board Member
- Doug Ross, Detroit
- Jennifer Rumschlag, Teacher
- Kim Saks, University of Michigan - Flint
- Tamara Schreiner, GVSU
- Tina Tait, Teacher, Detroit
- Karen Twomey, Teacher, Bloomfield Hills
- Jeanne VanLaan, Teacher, Washington Twp.
- Ryan Werenka, Teacher, Troy
- Kymberli Wregglesworth, Teacher, Onaway
- Kelly Young-Raymore, Teacher, Bloomfield Hills
- Ellen Zwarensteyn, Grand Rapids
The MiCivics Coalition has formed to fuel Michigan where every person has the opportunities, knowledge, and skills to participate meaningfully in the civic life of their community.
Recognizing that preparing our youth to assume the responsibilities and understand their rights as active participants in the civic life of this great nation is essential to the health of our democratic republic, the MiCivics Coalition pledges to help every K-12 school in Michigan to fulfill their historic and vital civic mission.
Coalition members pledge to ensure that every person acquires the civic knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary for informed, authentic, and engaged civic participation.
Agree with the mission?
