Civic Responsibility

Jackie Sirmopoulos, a seventh-grade teacher at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, asks her students. "Where is the power?"

They respond with a resounding "With the people!"

Yes, middle school students have rediscovered their enthusiasm for civics, a class that was a staple of middle school curriculum a generation ago.

Civics education had become an afterthought in Florida before a legislative mandate passed in 2006 required that civics education be taught in middle schools statewide.

Sirmopoulos said the historical Nov. 4 presidential election has made it a great year for civics.

"Parents are telling me, 'My kids read the newspaper, watch the debates and talk about the issues - I didn't know they knew that!' " Sirmopoulos said.

Sirmopoulos said she thinks seventh grade is a great year to teach civics because it's in between sixth-grade geography and eighth-grade American history.

"It's a great stepping stone and it really empowers the kids," she said.

In 2007, the Department of Education rewrote the standards for the entire social studies curriculum that will pass this December, according to Annette Boyd Pitts, executive director of The Florida Law Related Education Association Inc.

Pitts was on the committee that rewrote these standards.

Leon County and Miami-Dade County have had a long history of civic education in their curriculum, said Pitts.

Only 10 percent of school districts had a separate civics course in their middle school curriculum. Alachua County is now implementing a yearlong civics course.

"We hope more districts will follow the Leon County model and include a yearlong course at the middle school level," Pitts said. "It's so important in this country to renew the commitment to democracy and to understand how it works and to improve it."

Pitts said civics education was taken for granted in an already crowded curriculum and that subjects like social studies, which were not tested, were pushed aside.

"We really did kind of forget about it," Pitts said. "We should know this stuff. We need to renew it every generation and remember our history and be actively engaged as citizens."

Geneva Swanson, a seventh-grader in Sirmopoulos' class, said she thinks civics class is amazing.

"Before, I went with my parent's opinion and didn't understand the issues," Swanson said. "Now, I can talk with my parents and friends and understand what they're saying."

Most of her classmates agree.

"I've learned a lot about civic responsibility, the economy, government and laws," Erin Gadboys said.

"Before I didn't know what civics was, but it's been really fun because Mrs. S is our teacher, and ... she has been helping us prepare for when we have to vote," Brandon Vanderschoot said.