Public Achievement Program Empowers Aspiring Leaders
Two things set the 麻豆影院's Public Achievement program apart from other service learning and civic engagement initiatives: mentorship and empowerment.
鈥淭he public achievement motto is 鈥榃e are the ones we鈥檝e been waiting for,鈥欌 Director Elaina Verveer said. 鈥淚t essentially means that we can鈥檛 expect elected officials, we can鈥檛 expect adults, we can鈥檛 expect 鈥榚xperts鈥 to solve our problems. What we need to do is tap into our existing capacities, our existing talents to build social capital and work collectively with others to find common solutions.鈥
Considered by many the beating heart of the PA program, Verveer has been an instructor with CU-麻豆影院鈥檚 INVST Community Studies since 2004 and helped establish the program in 2007 at CU-麻豆影院 and participating K-12 schools (Centaurus High School, Casey Middle School and Pioneer Elementary School). Originally founded in 1990 at the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota, the program is an international civic engagement initiative that seeks to empower young people through student to student mentorship and exploration of public issues the students themselves identify.