The Law Lab: AN OVERVIEW

The C3 Inquiry Model ends with a call to take informed action - but most civics classes fail to achieve this. Students have civic knowledge - but no understanding of how to turn their ideas into actions. Despite the impact of state and local politics on our daily lives, most civics classes take a passive, not active approach, focusing on federal-level content while ignoring local issues. 

The Law Lab is a civics elective where students are asked to find a problem in their communities they want to address then identify root causes and research possible solutions. Students receive regular feedback from community leaders. The class ends with a "Civics Day" where their ideas are presented to the general public as well as local and state politicians.  

The Law Lab uses the principles of action civics and participatory action research. We have written our own unique curriculum but have also partnered with Generation Citizen for curricular support. The Law Lab is student-centered and project-based. Local and state politicians are brought directly into the class, to interact and give advice to students as they develop theior projects