Project Citizen

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Project Citizen & Illinois Learning Standards

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Portfolio Checklist (pdf)

Simulated Legislative Hearings

Illinois Winning Project

Project Citizen Across the U.S.

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Project Citizen Program Brochure

Project Citizen

Illinois Winning Project 2009–2010

On June 2, 2010 the work of sixth graders from Decatur Classical School in Chicago took first place at the 2010 Illinois Project Citizen portfolio showcase. Students from fifteen classes in Illinois sent portfolios chronicling the work, research and future plans for their public policy/service-learning projects to the capitol building in Springfield where the judging took place. The Decatur sixth grade project was on display at the National Showcase held in Louisville, Kentucky July 20–24.

The 2010 Winning Project: 273 Lost, 191 Forgotten
The winning project on display at the Capitol Building in Springfield. The Showcase was hosted by Secretary of State Jesse White’s Office.	Decatur students present their project to local policymakers

Sixth grade students from Decatur Classical School in Chicago were saddened to discover that their assistant principal had lost both her parents in the 1979 American Airlines crash of Flight 191 in Chicago. When they learned that 31 years later still no memorial has been erected to honor those who had lost their lives, the students got busy with efforts to change that. Using the steps of Project Citizen to address this problem, the Decatur students conducted research and held interviews, then created a website and a documentary to get the word out on the need for a memorial. The students also reached out to media outlets, members of city, state and U.S. government, as well as officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines and Boeing, which now owns the airline, to make the case for a memorial. Moved by their passion and effort, U.S. Congresswoman Schakowsky has written letters to officials at Boeing and American Airlines urging for the memorial to be erected as have others.

In addition to a memorial for Flight 191 victim, the sixth grade students would like to amend a Federal Law passed in 1996 that required airlines to create a memorial in the event of a crash. The students would like to this law to be applied retroactively, so that families who lost their loved ones in prior plane crashes, can also have a place to grieve.

The Decatur students understand that it might take a while to see their goal to fruition but they are in it for the long haul. Decatur 6th grader Emily M. put it this way: “This project has become part of our lives and we won't stop until a memorial for Flight 191 has been achieved.” The Decatur students’ project represented Illinois at the national Project Citizen showcase in Louisville, Kentucky in July 2010, where received a ‘superior’ rating, the highest honor.