On June 3, 2009, fifteen classes from Illinois elementary and middle schools competed in the 2009 Illinois Project Citizen portfolio showcase and competition. Students from Decatur Classical, Grimes Elementary, Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy, and St. Hyacinth, and Solomon School in Chicago, Edgewood and Elm Place Middle Schools in Highland Park, Otter Creek Elementary in Elgin, St. Athanasius School in Evanston, Calhoun Elementary School in Hardin, Coulterville Elementary School in Coulterville, DeSoto Elementary School in DeSoto, Eisenhower Junior High in Darien, and Wauconda Middle School in Wauconda sent portfolios chronicling the steps and future plans for their service projects to the Capitol Building in Springfield where the judging took place.

Showcase Judges Jo Ann Price, Micah Miller, Amy Gerloff and Dave Joens evaluate projects.		The Illinois winning portfolio from Coulterville Elementary School in Coulterville

Coordinated by Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, cosponsored and hosted by Secretary of State Jesse White's Office and cosponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association the 2009 Illinois Project Citizen Competition featured student-created portfolios that described each project's goals, processes and outcomes. In determining a winner, judges considered the extent of each project's research, the significance of the issues, the students' understanding of the problem, and the overall persuasiveness and feasibility of their action plan.

This year's project judges were Dave Joens, Micah Miller, Tom Speedie, Jr. and Mike Steiner from the Secretary of State White's Office; Mark Mathewson from the Illinois State Bar Association; Jo Ann Price and Sally Veach from the Illinois State Board of Education; Amy Gerloff and Sarah Kerley from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General; and Liz Kerwin from the Governor's Office.

A sixth grade class from Coulterville Elementary School in Coulterville took first place at the competition and will represent Illinois in the national Project Citizen portfolio competition in Philadelphia, PA from July 20-24, 2009. To learn more about the winning project from Coulterville Elementary School and to see the portfolio they created, click onto Illinois Winning Project 2008-09.

The National Competition is coordinated by the Center for Civic Education and held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the program's national co-sponsor, the National Conference of State Legislatures .



Last updated: July 29, 2009

Please forward all inquiries regarding the website to webmaster@crfc.org