Civic Education Project: service learning field studies for oustanding middle and high school students
CTD's Civic Education Project
CivicWeek

Career-Focused Service-Learning Programs for High School Students

CivicWeek programs engage diverse groups of outstanding high school students in weeklong, career-focused service-learning immersion experiences in communities around the country. Each program provides a unique opportunity for bright, motivated students to gain hands-on experience with important social issues while exploring careers that serve the public interest in fields like criminal justice, education reform, public health and urban development.

Modeled after popular alternative break programs for college students, CivicWeek programs bring together diverse groups of outstanding high school students for intense, weeklong, service-learning immersion experiences in host communities around the country

Under the supervision of trained CEP staff, groups of 14 to 18 students spend their days engaged in meaningful service and meetings with prominent professionals and community leaders. Evenings are filled with team building activities, thoughtful reflection on the issues the group is exploring, and of course, relaxation and fun. CivicWeek challenges students not only to develop their individual talents, but to apply their skills and passions to make a difference in the world.


CivicWeek participants...
  • Serve communities in need
  • Gain valuable insight into career fields
  • Learn about some of the nation’s most pressing social problems and most promising solutions
  • Develop stronger communication, interpersonal and leadership skills
  • Earn service-learning credit hours
  • Discover ways to become more active leaders and citizens in their schools and communities

Past CivicWeek participants have...

Built a house for a family in need

Distributed hygiene kits from a mobile health outreach bus

Discussed urban policy at the White House

Been a child’s hero for a day

Made lifelong friendships

Debated controversial school closings with Chicago Public School officials

Harvested fresh produce from an urban farm

Witnessed government in action on the U.S. Senate floor

Laughed a lot

Offered comfort and cheer at a veterans hospital

Led a slam poetry workshop at an elementary school

Observed final arguments of a state Supreme Court trial

Learned a lot

Met with editors of the New York Times

Restored wetlands in the Bay area

Joined local youth at an Education Not Incarceration rally at city hall

Been part of the solution

      The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed CivicWeek on the NASSP National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities.

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