January 2019

Parents Need Civics Too

Employing an innovative and comprehensive approach to civic education, SAR High School has designed rigorous programs for students, teachers, alumni, and parents. This past fall, Rabbi Akiva Block taught a 4-part series called “The Jewish Ethic of Citizenship” as part of SAR’s Machon Siach (“thinking institution”) Adult Education program. Participants in the course studied American …

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Scientific Truth vs. Inherited Wisdom

What’s the Debate? Since America’s founding, two seemingly opposing traditions have defined our national culture, namely scientific progress and religious faith. Both of these traditions trace their roots to colonial Philadelphia, where William Penn welcomed diverse religious communities from across Europe, while Benjamin Franklin helped found research institutions and museums. As scientific research has helped …

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Civic Engagement: Walking the Walk

As an organization committed to supporting the civic engagement of teachers and students, we recognize that Civic Spirit must demonstrate similar involvement and leadership in local civic society.. We have joined a group of stakeholders who are helping to ensure that the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) legislation passed in November 2016 is implemented in a …

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Summer Institute Retrospective

As part of its design, from Day 1, Civic Spirit embedded an evaluator in the pilot program to ensure that we are objectively defining success, assessing outcomes, facing challenges, and capturing our best practices and distinct value within schools. Civic Spirit’s Evaluator, Daniel Olson, attended the 2018 Summer Institute and wrote an evaluation including qualitative and …

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