Civic Seal Units · Unit 6
The Youth and Government Portfolio
Extracurricular Participation, 40 Hours
Civic Seal Units · Unit 6
The Youth and Government Portfolio
Extracurricular Participation, 40 Hours
Grades 9 to 12 · The full program year: four 20-minute check-ins and one 45-minute final session
Teacher note. Handouts: 1. Participation Log; 2. Artifact Checklist by Program Area; 3. Reflective Essay or Presentation Guide; 4. Advisor Verification Letter; plus the Portfolio Rubric and a paper or digital folder per student. The advisor is the verifier, so keep attendance at every delegation meeting and event from the first week. Set the four check-in dates now: October, December, February and April.
You will be able to
- Keep an accurate participation log with dates, hours, activities and verification.
- Collect artifacts that show your growth across the year.
- Connect your program experiences to the four civic readiness domains.
- Present your portfolio to the Seal Committee with advisor verification.
What this unit is
This unit does not add work to the program. It documents the program.
Log the hours. Keep the artifacts. Write the reflection.
Teacher note. A delegate who attends delegation meetings, a steering conference and the state conference passes 40 hours easily. The unit makes sure the hours are logged and the reflection is in a form a Seal Committee can accept.
About Seal credit
Your portfolio may count toward the Seal of Civic Readiness. Your school or district decides.
Teacher note. New York: it may count toward the extracurricular participation option in the Civic Participation column, which asks for at least 40 hours plus an essay, presentation or project; the School Civic Readiness Committee decides. In September, confirm with the committee that Youth and Government qualifies, what the essay or presentation should look like, and whether the student already used this option in a prior year. Connecticut: the portfolio documents involvement in a civic organization, one of the law's examples of a civic engagement project; the State Department of Education sets the criteria and districts decide whether to offer the seal, so confirm with the district.
What counts toward 40 hours
- Delegation meetings and bill, brief or press workshops
- Steering conferences and training days
- State conference program hours, not sleeping or meals
- Candidate and Presiding Officer training and duties
- Service hours tied to the Lieutenant Governor's service focus
- Youth Advocate Program meetings and State Advocacy Day
- Conference on National Affairs, National Judicial Competition or Youth Governors Conference: preparation and the events
Teacher note. Conference hours are actual program hours per day: sessions, committees, chambers, court, press work, elections.
No double counting
Count each hour once. Never count the same hour toward two seal options without permission.
Teacher note. Service hours may also count toward Unit 4 only if the Seal Committee agrees.
Check-In 1 · 20 min
October
- Start your log
- Your October sentence
- Save your first artifact
Start your log
Record your September hours on the Participation Log.
- Date
- Activity
- Hours
- Role or task
- Advisor initials
Teacher note. Distribute the Participation Log and Artifact Checklist. Students copy September hours from the advisor's attendance.
Your October sentence
What do I hope to be able to do by March that I cannot do now?
Teacher note. One sentence. It becomes the first line of the reflection, so have students keep it somewhere safe.
Save your first artifact
Save the first draft of your bill, brief, candidate form or press assignment.
Artifacts by program area
- Legislative
- Bill drafts, memorandum of support, committee notes, ranking, chamber result, amendment forms, Governor's action
- Judicial
- Fact sheet, brief drafts, bench questions, opinion, scoring
- Press
- Assignments, story drafts, published pieces, broadcast script, shot list, fact checks
- Executive and Cabinet
- Cabinet review forms, veto messages, speeches, theme worksheet
- Elections and Presiding Officers
- Candidate form, speech drafts, press conference questions, results, chair script
- Lobbyist and Youth Advocate
- Leave behinds, contact logs, one-pagers, Advocacy Day notes
- Service
- Plan, hours log, product
- Everyone
- Captioned photographs, program schedules, roundtable reflections
Teacher note. This is the Artifact Checklist. Students keep what fits their role all year.
Check-In 2 · 20 min
December
- Log and save
- Roundtable
Log and save
- Log steering conference or training hours
- Get advisor initials
- Save an artifact: committee notes, a revised bill, a draft speech or a brief outline
Roundtable
What is one thing you learned about how government actually works that surprised you?
Check-In 3 · 20 min
February
- Log and project hours
- Save the final version
- Conference evidence list
Will you clear 40?
Log your hours. Add your projected state conference hours. Will you clear 40?
- Save your final bill, brief, speech or press plan as submitted
Conference evidence list
- Bill book page
- Committee ranking
- Chamber result
- Court docket and opinion
- Press pieces
- Election result
- Photographs
- Any Governor's Office action
Teacher note. Assign this before the state conference so students collect as they go.
Check-In 4 · 20 min
April
- Log conference hours
- Collect conference evidence
- Choose essay or presentation
Close out the year
- Log your conference hours
- Turn in your conference evidence
- Choose essay or presentation and read the guide
Teacher note. Verify conference hours against the conference schedule.
Final Session · 45 min
The Reflection and the Portfolio
- Write or build30 min
- Assemble10 min
- Submit5 min
Choose your format
Essay
- 750 to 1,000 words
- Organized by the four domains
- At least one artifact cited under each
Presentation
- 8 minutes
- Organized by the four domains
- At least one artifact cited under each
The four domains
- Civic Knowledge
- What do you understand now about how laws are made, cases argued or elections run? Cite an artifact.
- Civic Skills and Actions
- What can you do now? Show the before and after with two artifacts.
- Civic Mindsets
- When did you work with someone who disagreed with you? When did you lose, and what did you do?
- Civic Experiences
- Where did you work this year? Which setting changed you most?
Write or build
Open with your October sentence. Did it come true?
- Cover all four domains
- Cite at least one artifact under each
- Close with what you will do next
Teacher note. What next could be a bill for next year, an office to run for, or a real issue to carry outside the program.
Assemble
- Log with totals and advisor initials
- Artifacts
- Reflection
- Advisor verification letter
Submit
Submit your portfolio to the Seal Committee.
Teacher note. Students who present do so at the committee's next meeting or at a delegation showcase for families.
Portfolio Rubric (100 points)
- Participation log: 25
- Artifacts: 25
- Reflection: 35
- Presentation or essay quality: 10
- Verification: 5
Teacher note. The log needs 40 or more hours, advisor initials on every page, and no double counting. Artifacts: at least five, spanning the year. Support: give a paragraph starter per domain or allow a transcribed conversation with the advisor. Challenge: mentor a first-year delegate's portfolio or present to a school or YMCA board.
Your year, documented
Next: Unit 7, The Student-Led Civics Project
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