Kentucky Court of Justice
Monticello Middle School earns top rating in national We the People: Project Citizen showcase

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Monticello Middle School’s We the People: Project Citizen entry, Bullying Hurts!, recently earned the top rating of superior at the national Project Citizen showcase in Louisville. The showcase took place July 25-28 during the National Conference of State Legislators Legislative Summit, which Louisville hosted for the first time. 

Evaluators, who are state legislators, legislative staff and other adult volunteers from across the nation, scored entries from 49 U.S. schools that had been selected to represent their state at the national showcase. Projects from 21 schools were rated superior, 24 as exceptional and three as outstanding. One school received an honorable mention. Points determine the ratings: Superior – 41-50 points, Exceptional – 31-40 points, Outstanding – 21-30 points and Honorable Mention – 0-20 points.

The Monticello Middle School team’s project was selected to represent Kentucky at the national showcase after earning the top rating of superior at the state showcase May 18 in Frankfort. The project focused on addressing the problem of bullying. 

Team members are Shawna Aaron, Alia Barrier, Daniel Bertram, Emily Bertram, Matthew Bertram, Rachel Bertram, Brittany Calahan, Jeremiah Chaney, Jake Chaplin, Zoe Davis, Monica Gehring, Cheyenne Jones, McKayla Jones, Jordan Kinnett, Bethany Latham, Stephen Loveless, Zachary Massengale, Tristan McLean, Abi Perkins, Caleb Rose, Cory Sawyer, Trajan Smith, Michael Steele and Tasha Troxell. Teacher Jennifer Chaplin coaches the team.

Project Citizen is a hands-on, portfolio-based civic education program that promotes participation in local and state government by teaching students about the public policy process and encouraging civic involvement. The program helps students learn how to monitor and influence public policy.

Project Citizen teams identify and analyze issues and problems facing their communities and address one of the issues. The issue or problem must be one that could be addressed through public policy, such as a law or regulation. The groups gather information about the issue, examine policies and develop an action plan detailing the steps that need to be taken to have the appropriate school, government or other entity implement their public policy proposal. The final product is a stand-up portfolio displaying each group’s work and an accompanying binder documenting its research. 

Each year, student teams in fifth through eighth grades have the opportunity to enter their Project Citizen portfolios and accompanying research binders in the state showcase for evaluation. They also give a presentation on their entry and answer questions from evaluators, who select one project to represent Kentucky at the national showcase.

Only portfolios and binders are evaluated at the national showcase. The students do not present their work and usually are not present. The national showcase is held each year as part of the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit. 

Teaching Project Citizen
The Project Citizen program is available to teachers who want to offer the curriculum in their school. Teachers for fifth through 12th grades who teach the Project Citizen curriculum receive free training, free sets of textbooks for the program and year-round assistance with implementing the program.

Project Citizen teachers agree to teach the curriculum for one school year and coach their Project Citizen team if it presents its project at district and state showcases.

For more information about teaching Project Citizen, contact Deborah Williamson or Jacindia Denny Wells at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort at 800-928-2350.

The Kentucky Court of Justice and the Center for Civic Education in California are co-sponsors of the We the People: Project Citizen program for Kentucky. Project Citizen is one of the many youth-related programs offered through the Kentucky Court of Justice and administered by the AOC. 

The AOC is the operational arm of the Kentucky Court of Justice and supports the activities of approximately 3,400 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. The AOC also executes the Judicial Branch budget.