School district awarded $60,000 state grant to expand civics education

Waltham Public Schools won a $60,000 Civics Teaching and Learning Grant from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which will fund new civics programming over the next two years. 

The award, announced just before the end of the school year, is part of a competitive grant program created to support the civics education requirements of the 2018 “Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement” and the state’s 2018 History and Social Science Framework.

The grant is funded through the state’s Civics Education Trust Fund, from which roughly $1 million will be distributed across districts during this year’s cycle. Awards range from $30,000 to $90,000 depending on student enrolment numbers. 

“We’re excited to receive the Civics Teaching and Learning Grant,” said Derek Vandegrift, the district’s director of history and social studies. “There are great things happening in our secondary history and social studies classrooms — and this grant will help us to make things even better for our students.”

The award will allow 28 social studies teachers to take part in professional development centered on teaching information and media literacy in the digital age. That training will be aimed at helping students critically evaluate news, sources and online information they receive, and apply it to their civics education. 

The grant will also fund updated resources and materials for teachers, which will align with the state’s standards. 

Additionally, every incoming eighth-grader in Waltham will have the opportunity to visit either the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate or the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, both in Boston, at no cost to families. 

The district will also be able to expand its partnership with mock trial programs to both McDevitt and Kennedy Middle School, broadening access to hands-on civic learning for students. 

DESE notes on its website that it favors proposals that advance equity, build sustainable civics infrastructure and promote what it calls “civic deeper learning” — opportunities for students to practice civic skills and play out concepts in real-life situations. 

The grant program gives priority to districts that haven’t previously received a grant, and to those with high populations of low-income students. 

Waltham has received the first year of funding, and may apply for continuation in FY28 to build on initiatives it launches this year. 

The grant builds on the state’s 2018 civics law, which introduced the eighth grade and high school civics project requirement. With a two-year implementation structure, it’s designed to fund the kind of sustained teacher training and curriculum work that one-time projects might not provide.