In less than two years, many of Maxine Mickens’ students at
Millenium High School in Detroit will be eligible to vote in their first
presidential election. She wants them to be ready.
Maxine Mickens and Jaime Schlack
A teacher, precinct delegate, one-time Detroit City Council
candidate and former congressional intern, Mickens returned to Congress in July
as part of the first-ever House Fellows Program of the U.S. House of
Representatives. The program is designed to teach secondary school educators
about the history and practice of the U.S. House.
Mickens and Milan High School teacher Jaime Schlack joined nine
other teachers from across the country for the one-week program, where they
attended committee hearings and briefings and visited the Library of Congress
and the Smithsonian Institution. The program is organized by the Office of the
House Historian. Dr. Fred W. Beuttler, the Deputy House Historian, told Michigan
Education Report it was his idea to bring the teachers to Washington.
"Our mandate is to preserve and protect the history of the House
of Representatives," he said. "I thought the best way to do that would be to
bring in high school teachers, because that’s the last time history and
government have to be studied."
Rather than choose teachers by state, Beuttler chose them by
Congressional district, giving preference to the most senior members of the
House. Thus, Mickens and Schlack were selected based on the seniority of Rep.
John Conyers Jr. of the 14th District, and Rep. John D. Dingell of the 15th
District, respectively.
Schlack and Mickens also both participate in "We the People: The
Citizen and the Constitution," a program focusing on civic competence and
responsibility that was developed by The Center for Civic Education, an
independent nonprofit corporation based in California.
In designing the Fellows program, Beuttler said he wanted the
teachers to visit Washington during "extremely busy weeks," so the pilot program
took place in July, the final week of session before the summer recess.
"The minimum wage bill was the big deal," Schlack said. "I had a
Congressional staff badge, so Friday night at 12:00 I walked over in my jeans
and watched the House floor vote." The group also was allowed onto the House
floor to hear Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s address and attended
the signing ceremony for the extension of the Voting Rights Act.
It was a return visit, of sorts, for Mickens. As a University of
Michigan student, she was an intern in Conyer’s office in 1972. Always
interested in politics, she currently teaches history and geography at
Millenium, but previously taught government and economics at Henry Ford High
School in Detroit. She also ran for a spot on the Detroit City Council in 2005,
coming in 52nd in a field of 120 candidates in the primary.
"The very first thing I did (this fall) was set up my classroom
like the House. That was so exciting. The kids loved it," Mickens said. Each
student took on the role of a legislator as they talked about how bills are
passed and the roles of legislative aides, she said.
In Milan, Schlack said she incorporated a mock Congressional
hearing into her Advanced Placement government class last fall, a suggestion
from "We the People." Four community leaders and a representative from Dingell’s
local office attended to hear her students "testify as constitutional experts."
Several national groups promote civic education through
teachers, among them The Center for Civic Education and the Bill of Rights
Institute in Arlington, VA.
"Our mission is to help teachers and ultimately students
understand the founding documents and founding principles … and how those
documents remain alive and vibrant for 21st century students," said Claire
Griffin, the institute’s vice president for educational programs. The institute
offers free online materials, weekly "e-lessons" in historical or contemporary
issues, and printed curricular supplements for history and government classes.
In addition, it offers professional development seminars for
teachers that explore documents like the Constitution and Bill of Rights as well
as ways to teach about those documents. The institute presented such a seminar
in Grand Rapids last fall.
"There are many teachers who are just hungry for the content,"
Griffin said. More recently, the institute has developed an outreach program
aimed directly at students, including a student Web site, essay contest and
pilot summer camp.
The Center for Civic Education contracts with the Michigan
Center for Civic Education to administer the "We the People" program here. The
program is probably best known for its state competition, but "that’s sort of
the tip of the iceberg," said Jim Troost, director of programs. Teachers like
Schlack, who conducted mock Congressional hearings in their own classrooms, are
invited to compete in mock hearings at the Congressional district level. Winners
there go to state finals. This year’s winner was East Grand Rapids High School,
and that team now goes to national competition.
But aside from the competition, the program also offers free
instructional material to 25 teachers per Congressional district per year,
Troost said. The material focuses on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
"The whole philosophy behind ‘We the People’ is that responsible
citizenship requires certain knowledge, but also certain skills," Troost said.
Helping students understand the connection between their own
lives and what Congress does is key to their future civic involvement, Mickens
said. "As I told my students this morning, they are two years from casting their
first vote for president. They need to be informed."
Reader Comments
It's great to hear that these teachers are
participating in this program. What great news for
their students!
- Adrienne Brock, reporter, Dearborn Times-Herald.
Thanks for informing us of these great opportunities.
Hopefully, in the future, we can extend these opportunities to
elementary teachers and students as well.
- Brian S. DeRath, principal, Williamston Community Schools.
It is good to know about the limited free instructional material available to each Congressional District. It must be very exciting for these educators to participate in this program. Their future students will be fortunate with the experience the educators gain in Washington, D.C. I wish them well.
- Mike Hein, administrator, Christian Civic League of Maine. Augusta, ME.
I think that it is a great way to bring relevance back to the districts that these educators work. It is an avenue of continuous learning, and allows people to model as a learning community. I wish I had this opportunity when I was teaching, I would have applied as well.
- Scott Dunsmore, superintendent, Gobles Public Schools.