Civic Engagement: The Role of Active Citizenship in Shaping Society

Civic engagement is a great way to get involved in your community, but some students may not know where to start. Dr. Gridiron and Steven Amenson explain how to get involved and why civic engagement matters.

By: Justyne Sanchez and Isabel Barycki

We all have the ability to make a positive impact, whether we do it alone or collectively as a group for the benefit of our community. This kind of engagement is often referred to as civic engagement or participation. Civic engagement can be defined as individual or collective action to identify and address issues of public concern. Individuals contribute by voicing their opinions of what needs to be changed by participating in the community, volunteering, and so much more. By earning civic engagement through these activities, individuals contribute to the collective well-being, helping shape society, and sharing values and aspirations. 

For high school students civic engagement is not excluded from them. In some classes, high school students are encouraged to participate in civic engagement. Through this, high schoolers can earn a civic seal on their diploma. However, many students are not aware of this opportunity or may be having a hard time on where to start. 

Dr. Gridiron, principal of Redwood High School explains that the first step in getting involved in civic engagement is, “First is finding something that you are passionate about and once you find something that you are passionate about in relation to making change, then just being courageous enough to go actively do it.”

Another step in getting involved is seeking out or finding organizations like the Sheriff’s Department, Police Department, or even city officials to find things to get involved in. Even departments such as Parks and Recreation, “do a lot of things for young people,” Gridiron says.

The Visalia Unified School District is another easily accessible way for students to get involved in civic engagement through the form of projects.

In schools, Gridiron says, “There are these projects that kids can get together to say hey here is a change that we wanna make, here is what we can do.” After deciding on a change students put a plan together and then are recognized and honored for it.

A great example of civic engagement within Visalia’s community is, “A few years ago we had a group of students in our district who wanted to change the city ordinance. Basically not allowing vape shops or smoke shops to be built very close to schools. They had built a new smoke shop near one of our elementary schools and students wanted to say hey this is not ok, kids are going to be exposed to this early and cause problems long term. They went to the city and petitioned. They created a city ordinance where there could be no more smoke shops built,” Says Gridiron.

“So there are a lot of different things they[students] can do. It’s just about kids finding their passion and what’s important to them” Gridiron says.

After completing civic engagement projects students can earn a seal on their diploma called the State Seal of Civic Engagement. Gridiron explains how students can earn a seal on their diploma and get a cord for graduation by doing civic engagement, he says, “There is a criteria and there is a process. For the civic engagement work, students actually have to complete a project, and so very similar to what I just mentioned, something that is important to them that they are passionate about that will have an impact on others across the city, country, or something that makes a difference in some way. So once they complete that project they will then apply for the state seal of civic engagement.”

When applying for a seal, Gridiron explains that students can apply by submitting a project and writing a brief paper about why civic engagement is important to them. Additionally, students must demonstrate they’ve passed the coursework within their history class to demonstrate that they have mastered a standard for democracy, and understanding democracy in civil engagement. Then, get a few letters of recommendation from teachers about them as students and that they are demonstrating civic responsibility.

There will also be a showcase for projects. When students share what their projects are they have to complete a slide deck or presentation on their projects. When earning the state seal, students can earn it as young as their junior year where they can get the state seal sticker on their transcripts. Senior year you can earn the cord for graduation for the state seal of civic engagement.

Gridiron explains why civic engagement matters, and why it matters to him as a principle “Why I think it matters is because it’s a part of our responsibility as citizens in this country is how do we give back to humanity. What do we do to help contribute to the communities or the cities, or the states, or the country in which we live in.”

“It’s an opportunity to allow kids to know that your voice matters, your ideas and thoughts matter, and you are, although young, are just as powerful and brilliant to make a difference in this world,” Gridiron says. 

Stephen Amundson, Coordinator of student services in Visalia Unified with a focus on student connection and engagement, has been in this role for 2 years. Within the district, Amundson oversees the civic seal of engagement by monitoring the programs students are engaged in. When completing the process for the civic seal of engagement, projects are submitted to the district office directly to Stephen Amundson.

“Civic engagement is slightly different than what some people may perceive to be community service,” says Amundson.

Amundson explains that Civic engagement, “takes community service maybe one step further and actually seeks to maybe change policy around something, maybe change the actual cause or the root cause of whatever that community service may be.”

Amundson says, “It’s a little bit like community service, it just seeks to go a step further and actually try to solve community problems.”

When looking to get involved in civic engagement Amundson recommends reaching out to Dr. Gridiron or joining programs such as AVID, FFA, ASB, and Link Crew. Amundson says, “Essentially a lot of the work that they are doing is civic engagement.” Students can also reach out to Amenson for the criteria and other examples when trying to get involved in civic engagement and achieving the seal of civic engagement.

Civic engagement is overall a good factor towards a better community, Amundson says, “Beyond that, I just think that, you know, when we have civic-minded students it just builds a better community as a whole.”

editor’s note. This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Stephen Amundson‘s name. An earlier version spelled it incorrectly

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