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2025–26 We the People Training Opportunities

Our training programs are rigorous professional development programs that bring teachers together to work with experienced mentors and scholars from a variety of disciplines. Participants attend lectures, interactive sessions, and when possible, field trips, and participate in simulated exercises modeled after the We the People and Project Citizen culminating activities. Applications are currently open for the 2025–26 training year. These professional development programs are made possible by subgrants from the U.S. Department of Education and contingent on continuation of that funding.

Project Community

An exciting new project from the Center for Civic Education that combines Project Citizen with Media Literacy to improve professional development and instruction.

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Civics that Empowers All Students

A project to increase underserved grades 4–8 students’ attainment of state civics standards, related literacy standards, and SEL competencies while creating inclusive learning environments.

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For upper elementary and middle school teachers
Project Community

Apply online to become part of Project Community: Engaging All Students in Media Literacy, a new program from the Center for Civic Education that combines Project Citizen with Media Literacy. This opportunity is open to teachers from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Cohort Summer Institute: July 13–17, 2025, in Annapolis, MD.

Download the flyer.

“Project Community: Engaging All Students in Media Literacy” is a new teacher training opportunity from the Center for Civic Education that integrates newly developed media literacy lessons with the Project Citizen curriculum. 

To empower elementary and middle school students for effective and responsible civic engagement, the Center for Civic Education and its partners developed a new set of lessons and teacher resources that integrate media literacy with hands-on engagement in public policy. Students will analyze media sources, organize policy information, and use media to responsibly inform others about policy issues.

The new materials are integrated with the Project Citizen curricular program that engages young people in collaboratively proposing solutions to policy problems in their communities.

As part of Project Community, selected Virginia teachers will collaborate with educators from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Washington, D.C., in a dynamic training program. The Summer Institute, held from July 13–17 in Annapolis, Maryland, will provide expert-led instruction from current classroom teachers, fostering a shared commitment to civic education. Throughout the 2025–2026 academic year, participants will continue the professional development, ensuring they are well-supported in bringing the curriculum to life in their classrooms.

This program was made possible by the generous support of the American History and Civics–National Activities Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The cohort will begin with a 2025 Project Community Summer Institute, and continue with multiple, one-day or shorter professional development workshops during the academic year.

You’ll get:

  • Free professional development! A total of 46 hours of professional development in a learning community with mentors and other teachers, including a 5-day, in-person summer institute and follow-ups throughout the academic-year. Summer Institutes begin in 2025!
  • Training in the Center for Civic Education’s Project Citizen curriculum, which engages students in collaboratively proposing public policy solutions to problems in their communities.
  • Presentations from expert scholars on public policy, media literacy, and political philosophy to deepen your content knowledge
  • Resources for teaching media literacy, public policy, and Project Citizen, presented by classroom teachers
  • Continued support and professional development throughout the 2025–26 school year, led by expert mentor teachers
  • A $500 stipend for your time and meeting the research requirements

 

Priority is given to educators who teach social studies, government, civics, and similar subjects. All applicants must teach students in grades 4-8.

Applications are now open! Apply online now. This short application form will take only minutes—no essay required!

For Upper Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Civics Empowers All Students Program

Apply online for a 2025–2026 learning cohort for free professional development for upper elementary and middle school teachers.

Cohort kick-off Summer Institute: June 23–27, 2025, at James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange, VA.

Download the flyer.

The goals of CEAS are to: (1) To increase underserved grades 4–8 students’ attainment of state civics standards, related literacy standards, and social and emotional learning competencies, (2) to create inclusive and identity-safe learning environments for underserved students in grades 4–8, (3) to support high-quality development for diverse teachers, and (4) to study the effectiveness of the updated and enhanced We the People blended-learning professional development program at improving teacher and student outcomes.

The program goes beyond past PD projects to specifically target elementary and middle school teachers based on the needs of their student age groups. It also works to incorporate the latest evidence-based practices in trauma-informed education, literacy, and SEL to address engagement and achievement gaps faced by underserved students, whose gaps have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This project is funded by a Supporting Effective Educator Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

  • Free professional development! A total of 52 hours of professional development in a learning community with mentors and other teachers in Virginia, including a 36-hour in-person summer institute and 16 hours of online academic-year follow up. Summer Institutes begin in 2025!
  • Engaging pedagogy and academic content, centered on the highly-effective We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution curriculum
  • A network of support and resources for engaging diverse student populations in the history, principles, and current application of the U.S. Constitution
  • Scholar guest speakers
  • Access to a library of professional development videos with noted scholars and practitioners cued to the curriculum
  • Free set of We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution textbooks and teacher’s guide
  • A stipend for completing program requirements
  • Teachers in grades 4–8 who work with classes of 30% or more high-need students (Title I schools, students of color, students with disabilities, English learners, or other underserved students) with no prior experience participating in professional development or teaching We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

Applications are now open! Apply online now. This short application form will take only minutes—no essay required!

What else do you need?

Professional development shouldn’t be passive and boring. We learn best when we’re engaging with interesting stuff, working with supportive colleagues, and actually enjoying ourselves. Our cohorts learn from and teach each other. We support each other. And we have fun! You should join us!

Still on the fence? If you need a little more info about the We the People program or these training opportunities, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help! 

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Emily Voss

Emily Voss comes to civic education from the museum world, where she was passionate about making museums relevant to the modern world. She currently serves as the Manager of National Programs for the Center for Civic Education. Prior to that, she served as the Education Director at the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison’s Montpelier where she spent the past decade developing programs for adult professionals that invited engagement with America’s founding documents. She served as the Virginia State Coordinator of the We the People program for 10 years and is a co-founder of Virginia Civics. Emily holds a BA in History from Gettysburg College, and an MA in Museum Education from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY). She and her family currently reside in central Virginia.

Co-Executive Director & Chief Programs Officer

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Jen Patja

Jen Patja has dedicated her career to strengthening constitutional self-government through her work with Virginia Civics, the Center for Civic Education, and Montpelier’s Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution, where she served as Deputy Director. Jen is a co-founder of Virginia Civics, and served as a House of Delegates-appointed member of the Virginia Commission on Civic Education, a state legislative commission, from 2014–2024. She is the producer and editor of “Rational Security,” a weekly foreign policy and national security roundup, and “The Lawfare Podcast,” a daily audio production in cooperation with the Brookings Institution. She is also a speaker with the U.S. Speaker Program at the U.S. Department of State. Jen has held teaching and research positions at the University of Virginia, most notably in Criminology and the school’s University Internship Program with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. She received her master’s in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and a bachelor’s in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Co-Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer

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Amelia Bochain

Amelia Bochain has devoted her professional life to effective social studies education that fosters civil discourse. As a classroom teacher for nine years, she implemented project-based learning that focused on civic engagement and encouraging effective discussion skills. She is particularly passionate about the We the People program, where she coached teams that placed in regional, state, and national competitions.

State Coordinator

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