Thanks to advocacy by the League and many other partners in the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition, student-led civics projects are now required curriculum for students in eighth grade and high school. LWVMA, in partnership with local Leagues, is working with schools throughout the Commonwealth to recognize and celebrate the students’ civics projects. For more information about this League initiative see the Toolkit.
Each spring, DESE celebrates the work of 8th-12th grade civics students across the state in partnership with Generation Citizen! Through “science fair-style” showcases, students have the opportunity to share their civics projects with local community advisors and each other, receive feedback on their work, and be recognized for their civic engagement. In 2026, DESE hosted four regional Civics Project Showcases in Springfield, Worcester, Dartmouth, and Boston. 1,330 students from 151 schools across 80 districts attended. 364 civics projects were presented. And 316 Community Advisors, including LWVMA members, showed up to make the students feel heard.
For the third year, the LWV-Acton Area partnered with Acton Boxborough Junior High School for their annual Civics Fair. The League recruited over 30 volunteers (local League members, elected officials and interested members of the community) to engage the students in conversation about their projects and award them certificates of recognition.
Over 400 students participated, presenting their findings on well researched and compelling issues. Topics ranged from pollution, sleep deprivation, immigration, and climate change to low voter turnout and a quest to save beavers in a local waterway.
The Civics Fair attracted Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan this year; she spent time listening to students talk about their projects and then visited a classroom.
Twenty-six community and LWV Advisors—recruited by LWV-AA—engaged with every project, listened to student presentations, and awarded certificates of achievement. Each project team also received structured written feedback following the event.
Now in its fourth year, the Showcase continues to grow as a meaningful community tradition, drawing parents, neighbors, and local leaders to witness the next generation putting civic knowledge into action.
The Cape Cod Area League served as community advisors at three civics showcases for local schools and also at the DESE sponsored state regional showcase for the Southeast Region held at Dartmouth University. Our role in supporting school districts has always been to be a community support, but not to organize the civics showcase for the schools. This is an activity supported by our Youth Service Committee but we always recruit additional League members so that we can offer the schools a larger audience to hear student presentations. Highlights from our visits to the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, Barnstable High School and Monomoy Regional High School are described here.
“The League of Women Voters of Needham and the Needham High School Social Studies Department co-sponsored Students Advocate for Change, the Needham High School Civics Showcase, on Saturday, May 30 at 2-3:30 PM at Powers Hall, Needham Town Hall.
We hosted nearly 100 students in 39 groups presenting their civics projects to Community Advisors and attendees.
Watch the one-minute slide show from the Showcase, see the list of issues the students chose, and read the article about this year’s Showcase in the Needham Local on our website here. “
“We made progress with the Plymouth Public Schools by meeting early on with the new Social Studies Coordinator. A former 8th grade Social Studies teacher in Plymouth, she was promoted to Interim Coordinator last year and now has the full title. She is full of energy and enthusiastic about Civics in general and Civic Showcases. She attended one Showcase last year, and now, this year, Plymouth 8th graders are exhibiting at UMass Dartmouth. We have met with her at the beginning of each school year to offer our help and make suggestions as to what we might do. The League also ran a successful 8th Grade Civics Bee during COVID and revived it last year at each of the Plymouth Middle Schools. We were welcomed back to do the Bees again this year. The relationship is growing, and I think the Coordinator views us as a resource and partner. She also thought League members would make good neutral judges for the civics projects. Students with the best project from each 8th grade civics class presented to us, and we provided helpful comments and observations as well as suggestions for improvement. Because many of the projects involved local issues, our judges were able to relate and offer further help. For example, one presentation had to do with Juvenile Crime, and one of our members provided comments from her position as a Family Court Judge. For another project on (Over)development, one of the judges has extensive experience with town committees that deal with development and is currently a member of the Land Use and Acquisition Committee. Because the dialogue during judging was constructive and help was offered, students approached the judges to ask directly for more help after their presentation and follow-up was arranged though the Social Studies Coordinator. ” -Lyle Lawrence, LWV Plymouth Area
“Every year, Massachusetts 8th graders are required to work on civics projects, often times partnering with local organizations or municipalities to learn about ways they can make a change or improve lives in their communities. For the past few years, the Sharon Middle School faculty have invited League members to participate in viewing students’ projects. This year, there were a wide variety of projects, from looking at hunger and homelessness, to ensuring our lake remains safe and clean and dealing with raising awareness of mental health and suicide prevention. The addition of having students study civics in real life certainly increases their ability to be engaged citizens in the local and global community.”
Four civics projects done by Curtis eighth-grade students competed in the Massachusetts state civics showcase at the DCU Center in Worcester Monday, June 1.
The four were selected May 20 from projects presented in the Curtis Middle School civics showcase. The showcase is like a science fair, but for civics. The student projects were judged by volunteers from the community.
The projects that will be participating in the Worcester showcase are:
This group is advocating for the adoption of biodegradable utensils as a replacement for traditional plastic utensils in SPS school cafeterias.
This group wishes to convince the town to reduce the use of salt in anti-ice road treatments to improve environmental outcomes.
This group aims to reduce the amount of litter by increasing the number of bottles returned via the Massachusetts bottle bill.
This group aims to create a network to systematically limit food waste while also reducing food insecurity.
The Litter on the Roadsides group put article 1 on the warrant for a Special Town Meeting, asking the town to support pending legislation to expand the current bottle bill. They presented at town meeting, and their article passed.
Each year, eighth-grade students at Curtis Middle School engage in a Civic Action Project (CAP). This CAPstone experience requires students to identify a civic issue that exists in their local or state-wide community. They research their issue, identify a goal, and design an action plan. To implement the plan, students conduct research, gather data, and reach out to stakeholders and community members, among other strategies, according to Lauren Egizio, humanities curriculum coordinator for Sudbury Public Schools.
