The Success and Growth of the Civics Education for Connecticut Students Project

One of the most exciting achievements at the Connecticut Museum this year has been the rapid growth of the Civics Education for Connecticut Students project (CECS), now in its second year. 

What the Civics Education for Connecticut Students Project?

Civics Education for Connecticut Students is a collaboration between five history museums across Connecticut, headed by the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, and including the Connecticut Democracy Center at the Old State House, the Fairfield Museum and History Center, the Mark Twain House, and the Mystic Seaport Museum. With federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education, and support from U.S. Congressman John Larson, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy, these museums offer free and discounted civics programs to K-5 students anywhere in Connecticut. From summer schools, homeschools, public to private schools: if an elementary aged student wants to learn about civics, this project is here to help! 

While the Civics Education project started in late 2023, it is in the current 2024-25 school year that the project has started to function at scale. Thanks to high energy marketing efforts and word-of-mouth recommendations across the educational community, tens of thousands of K-5 students are taking part in CECS projects today: 

• 20,873 K-5 students have taken part in a Civics Education for Connecticut Students- supported museum program – and thousands more have booked programs for this Spring!
• Over 8,500 of those students participated in programs for no cost;
• 223 different schools representing over ½ of the towns in Connecticut have seen their students participate

Impact Across Connecticut

This is a crucial success because it addresses the needs of educators across the state.  Civics education is hard to teach in the contemporary elementary classroom, as schedules are busy with math, reading, writing, and standardized testing. Social studies, and especially civics, are usually featured only as reading comprehension content in language arts lessons. But through field trips to institutions like the Connecticut Museum and its four partners, students have a chance to see civics come to life! 

The Connecticut Museum’s Education Department has always emphasized hands-on enrichment work. This is the type of learning that goes beyond the basics, asking students to set down the textbook to explore their communities and develop their own interests. 

The issue, as it so often is in education, is access: enrichment costs money. The higher the quality, the higher the cost. Some schools can afford terrific enrichment opportunities, some schools can only afford more modest opportunities, and some schools can’t afford anything at all. When factoring in the cost of bus transportation, programs at Connecticut’s best history museums and cultural institutions are too often unaffordable for too many students. 

For this precise reason, the Civics Education project has proved a remarkable success. While every school in Connecticut can access these funds, the project’s equitable pricing means that schools with the greatest need receive the most financial aid. As program after program takes place, our state’s youngest citizens are able to learn and participate – not just read about – crucial concepts like checks and balances, running in elections, and passing a law with the expertise of museum educators.

As these programs continue to take place across the state throughout the 2024 – ’25 school year, teachers have expressed their enjoyment of the programs, the high-quality of the presentation of the learning objectives, and the importance of federal funding to make these programs possible. By investing in Connecticut’s K-5 learners, the Civics Education project lays an equitable foundation for civic engagement across future generations. 

To learn more about the program and the participating museums, read the brochure.