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The Center for Education Policy at the UMass Amherst College of Education will host its second annual Civic Summit at the Carney Family Auditorium in Furcolo Hall on Tuesday, April 15, from 5–7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending are encouraged to register online. 

This year’s summit aims to promote conversation and generate new ideas about socially important issues, exploring the question, “How should Massachusetts public schools prepare the next generation for civic engagement and responsibility?”

The summit will combine the experiences and opinions of educators and experts with those of local high school students, with each group hosting one of two panel discussions.

Like last year’s summit, which focused on the question of whether Massachusetts should drop the MCAS graduation requirement, this event will include a deliberative discussion and poll. Audience members will be polled both before and after hearing from the two panels and participating in question-and-answer sessions.

“We’re living in deeply polarized times, and we've never been more in need of civic skills and dispositions,” said Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy and Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor at the College of Education. “I’m looking forward to seeing how this year’s audience engages with both our experts and our youth leaders in forming their conclusions on how we increase civic engagement for future generations.”

The panel of educators and experts will include Kelley Brown, an award-winning social studies educator at Easthampton High School and graduate of Amherst College and the UMass Amherst College of Education. Her social studies classes won the Massachusetts Center for Civic Education’s “We the People” state competition the last four years in a row and won the national competition in 2020. Panelists will also include Reuben Henriques, assistant director of humanities for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; and Adam Hinds, former state senator and chief executive officer of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. 

Student panelists will include representatives from Easthampton and Quabbin Regional high schools, UMass Amherst undergraduate political science student Qua’Nae Golston-Thomas and Northampton High School students who serve on the board of the College of Education’s Center for Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research.

Registration is required for this year’s summit as seating is limited. Refreshments will be served. More information and a registration link can be found on the Center for Education Policy website.