Demonstrating civic engagement

SENIOR BERKELEY LEADERS (left to right) Shirley Dean, 71, a former mayor, Betty Olds, 86, of the Berkeley City Council, and Sylvia McLaughlin, 90, founder of Save The Bay, gather atop a historic oak tree Monday morning because they want to save the grove that is slated to be removed by UC Berkeley to make way for a new $125 million sports training facility. (Ray Chavez - Staff)

Just the other day I was talking with someone that I am working with on preparing a panel presentation and she was talking about how non profit leaders are concerned that there isn't necessarily a next generation preparing to move up and into nonprofit positions. That there isn't the groundswell of interest in this kind of contribution and participation.

And later I was talking with someone else about the difference in going to college at a school like the University of Michigan (or Harvard, or Wisconsin, or Berkeley, or Columbia or Yale). Why is it that civic participation, engagement and protest, at least on national issues, is more likely to occur at "the best schools"?

How do we work to build the culture of engagement everywhere? (Well, one of my ideas is that all school classes, starting at some point in elementary school, should have to do class projects of some sort "in the community." See the idea of the Eagle Scout project as a model, recounted in this article from the Gazette, "Flowers student earns Eagle Scout award.")

These civic leaders from Berkeley, California are an inspiration. See "It's never too late to demonstrate: Longtime Berkeley civic leaders make climb, join protest to save oak grove," from the Oakland Tribune.

Thanks to DC1974 for the heads up on this article.
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Also see the AP story, "Materialism spikes in a generation" from the Washington Times.

And this environmental leadership development opportunity for high school students, "Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative Student Action Committee."

Index Keywords: civic-engagement