Capwiz & Youth Leadership Initiative

Empowering young men and women to have a vital role in the democratic process.

Challenge:
Founded in 1998, the University of Virginia Center for Politics developed the Youth Leadership Initiative with the premise that by educating students about government and politics, they could encourage more young men and women to have a role in influencing democracy. The program combines academic excellence with civic participation and community service to assist primary and secondary teachers in creating an engaged classroom environment where students gain first-hand experience about the responsibilities of adult citizens living in a representative democracy. Teachers are also given online access to innovative lesson plans specifically catered to their state’s standards.

The Youth Leadership Initiative needed a technology to fuel their goals in encouraging student and teacher participation in the program, but had limited funding. Particularly, they needed a reliable research tool to aid students participating in e-Congress, which was YLI’s annual online simulation that allowed middle and high school students to learn about how a bill becomes a law and research, draft, and vote on legislation.

Solution:
In 2006, the Youth Leadership Initiative used Capwiz as a comprehensive resource to help students easily contact their elected officials, learn about legislative procedures, and stay informed on bills and votes as they participated in the e-Congress simulation. By learning about legislation and communicating with the sponsors and cosponsors of these bills, students applied that knowledge by creating their own bills for the e-Congress. Capwiz also served as an important tool for teachers to integrate lessons and study guides for the e-Congress classroom curriculum.

Nearly 17,000 students from around the country participated in the 2006 session of e-Congress, as student committees analyzed over 6,700 pieces of original legislation en route to casting over 430,000 votes on the House floor. During this process, which took place over several months, Capwiz was an important asset that fostered long-term civic engagement and helped students develop key skills in research, writing, problem solving, and consensus building.

Capwiz continues to provide the Youth Leadership Initiative with a reliable and cost-effective way to increase student and teacher participation and paves the way for future projects.

“If I had to describe Capwiz in one word, it would be integral," said Meg Heubeck, Interim Director of Instruction for Youth Leadership Initiative.  "Your service is absolutely vital so that our organization can provide teachers and students with the resources to stay informed on local and state policies affecting education.”

www.youthleadershipinitiative.org