(Oklahoma City– May 13, 2009) Eighth graders at All Saints Catholic School were recently awarded third place for the fifth-eighth grade division in the “We the People: Project Citizen Program” sponsored by the Oklahoma Bar Association in Oklahoma City. 

A portfolio of the students’ work, titled “Green and Clean” was displayed at the Oklahoma Bar Center and judged by the OBA Law-related Education Committee and LRE community volunteers.

Participating students work in teams to identify a public policy problem in their community. They research the problem, evaluate alternative solutions, develop their own solution in the form of a public policy, and create a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities to adopt their proposed policy. The final step is the development of a portfolio to showcase their work.

“The Project Citizen program helps students see that they really can impact public policy,” said Jane McConnell, OBA law-related education coordinator. “The OBA is proud to play a part in molding Oklahoma students into responsible and involved citizens through programs like Project Citizen.”

The All Saints team’s teacher is Pamela Brown.  Students participating in the project were Emily Averyt, Holden Baker, Majd Chagoury, Daniela Cooper, Tyler Forsyth, Michelle Griffin, Heath Herman, Mark Jeffreys, Miranda Johnson, Stephanie Khouri, Brian Lively, Erica Luttrell, Jon Mance, AJ Martell, Dylan Murray, Charles Outlaw, Dovie Rayburn, Buddy Ryu, Allison Sarabia, Amanda Schreiner, Sola Somade and Jordan Wehling.

Janet Cook’s fifth grade classes at Laverne Elementary in Laverne took first place and second place in the fifth-eighth grade division. 

The Project Citizen program is funded by a grant through the Center for Civic Education, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act sponsored by the United States Congress.

Project Citizen is part of the OBA’s comprehensive statewide Law-related Education (LRE) Program which is committed to emphasizing the concepts of good citizenship. Other LRE programs include teacher in-service workshops, peer mediation programs, lesson plans, library resources and anti-drug programs. LRE services for educators are free. For more information, contact the OBA/LRE Department at (405) 416-7023.