On May 18, 2004, fifteen classes from thirteen Illinois schools competed in the 2004 Illinois Project Citizen portfolio competition. Students from Byrd, Haugan, Pickard, St. Hyacinth and Spaulding Elementary in Chicago, Our Lady of Charity School in Cicero, Elm Place and Edgewood Middle Schools in Highland Park, Grand Prairie School in Mount Vernon, Red Brick Safe School in Ruma, Urbana Middle School in Urbana, Waterloo Junior High in Waterloo, 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 Thomas Speedie Jr. (Office of Secretary of State White) and Melinda Bentley (ISBA) evaluate project by Hyacinth Elementary in Chicago.		Secretary of State White poses next to the winning a portfolio from Elm Place Middle School.

Cosponsored and hosted by Secretary of State White's Office and cosponsored by Governor Blagojevich's Office , the Illinois State Bar Association and CRFC, the 2004 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

Judges included Dave Joens and Kim Nehrt from the White's Office, Melinda Bentley, Mark Mathewson and Thomas Speedie, Jr. from the Illinois State Bar Association, and Latoya-Price Perry from the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

A seventh grade class from Elm Place Middle School took first place at the competition and will represent Illinois in the national Project Citizen portfolio competition in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 2004. To learn more about the winning project from Elm Place Middle School, click onto Illinois Winning Project 2003-2004 . 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: Sept 8, 2004

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