A Message from Our New Vice President and Chief of Staff
Dear Center for Civic Education community,
I am honored and delighted to write to you as the Center’s new vice president and chief of staff. It is an extraordinarily exciting time to join the team as we build on the Center’s long history and enact President Christopher Riano’s vision to meet the distinct challenges of our present moment, focusing on expansion, innovation, and growth.
Our society and government work best when people understand the connections between past and present, when all voices are heard and difference is celebrated, and when the people are empowered to participate in healthy civic action. Therefore, we must actively teach these principles of civil society, which we know and, perhaps, appreciate now more than ever.
Programs like Project Citizen, We the People, Civitas, and beyond provide authentic experiential learning opportunities that are powerful and rare, and they have changed millions of lives. I am eager to work with our incredible network of state coordinators, teachers, alumni, board members, and supporters to ensure even more learners have the opportunity to participate in our programs and, by extension, in their communities.
At a time when three-quarters of American eighth-graders are unable to demonstrate proficiency in civics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress; only 30% of Americans born since 1980 rate it essential to live in a democracy; and, more than a third of Americans cannot name any of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment, our work has never been more critical. I am excited to work alongside members of this community to guide learners down a path of discovery to understand, appreciate, and enact the privileges and responsibilities of living in a constitutional democracy.
I look forward to tackling these challenges and turning them into opportunities with the entire Center for Civic Education community, all in pursuit of a more perfect union.
Sincerely,
Mia Nagawiecki
I am honored and delighted to write to you as the Center’s new vice president and chief of staff. It is an extraordinarily exciting time to join the team as we build on the Center’s long history and enact President Christopher Riano’s vision to meet the distinct challenges of our present moment, focusing on expansion, innovation, and growth.
Our society and government work best when people understand the connections between past and present, when all voices are heard and difference is celebrated, and when the people are empowered to participate in healthy civic action. Therefore, we must actively teach these principles of civil society, which we know and, perhaps, appreciate now more than ever.
Programs like Project Citizen, We the People, Civitas, and beyond provide authentic experiential learning opportunities that are powerful and rare, and they have changed millions of lives. I am eager to work with our incredible network of state coordinators, teachers, alumni, board members, and supporters to ensure even more learners have the opportunity to participate in our programs and, by extension, in their communities.
At a time when three-quarters of American eighth-graders are unable to demonstrate proficiency in civics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress; only 30% of Americans born since 1980 rate it essential to live in a democracy; and, more than a third of Americans cannot name any of the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment, our work has never been more critical. I am excited to work alongside members of this community to guide learners down a path of discovery to understand, appreciate, and enact the privileges and responsibilities of living in a constitutional democracy.
I look forward to tackling these challenges and turning them into opportunities with the entire Center for Civic Education community, all in pursuit of a more perfect union.
Sincerely,
Mia Nagawiecki
