High School Faculty Advisor Mtg. on Sat., Aug. 23
 

To Civitas H.S. Faculty Advisors:

Please read bottom text in red. 

Dear Faculty Advisor,

As you most likely know, Civitas programs now extend well beyond model United Nations.  They include a host of activities in the areas of active citizenship, urban studies, and collaborative activities with organizations ranging from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to the Missouri History Museum.

Civitas tries to ask as little as possible of high school faculty advisors because we recognize that your work is much more difficult than ours (e.g. it’s much easier for us to take a “personal snow day” than it is for you).  In recent years, we have essentially done away with meetings for high school faculty advisors.

However, this year is different.  We are asking you to come to a one hour meeting on Saturday, August 23 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.  The reasons are two-fold: (a) we have far more activities planned for 2008-2009 than in previous years, and (b) many of the most exciting activities are “front-loaded” in the beginning of the year.

Consider these events in the course of less than a month:

1. Sept. 20: Presentation and Q&A session with Eric Greitens, former Navy seal who served in Iraq after working on humanitarian projects in Rwanda, Cambodia, and Croatia.  He will be meeting with students about (a) working the priorities of active citizenship into a high school student’s schedule, and (b) ways in which high school students can collaborate with military veterans on active citizenship projects.
2. Sept. 25: In conjunction with the Missouri History Museum, inviting students and adults to meet in small discussion groups to discuss issues related to active citizenship.  Topics will range from allowing high school seniors and juniors to vote in school-related elections to sharing views on how students and adults react when they feel that politicians are “pandering” to them.
3. Oct. 1 – 3: With the Pulitzer Center, Global Gateway Project #5 on learning about the complexities of drought conditions in east Africa and exploring ways to provide adequate water for citizens to live and have the means to work at promoting a more fair and just society.  Independent multi-media journalists from the Seattle who have visited Ethiopia and Kenya will meet with St. Louis students during these dates after having established blogging correspondence with student in advance.  (Pulitzer director Jon Sawyer considers preparation for this project so important that he will come to St. Louis to meet with teachers at this Aug. 13 meeting).
4. Oct. 17 – 19: Washington University Model United Nations for high school students.  Committees will include special historical ad hoc groups including an American committee during the time of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a “reconvening” of the Congress of Vienna, and even committees to develop strategies for the Democratic and Republican parties for this fall’s elections.

If you can come to the meeting, you can (a) offer far more opportunities for your students than they might otherwise have, and (b) make your responsibilities during the year easier because of your increased familiarity with our planned activities.

The meeting on Saturday, Aug. 23 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM will be at the newly-opened Stone Spiral Coffee House at 2500 Sutton Ave. in Maplewood (map).  We hope that you can make it.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at arthur@civitas-stl.com or call (314) 495-1720.  Thanks for everything! -- Arthur

It is very important for us to learn in advance which teachers plan to come to this meeting.  You can reply by e-mailing us at arthur@civitas-stl.com.

Civitas: www.kidswhothink.org