Dear Colleagues:

On behalf of the Civics First board, I hope you and your families are having a happy and healthy summer. I'm writing to update you on the status of Civics First programming for the coming school year. Given the uncertainty that continues to surround the reopening of schools in Connecticut, and the certainty that reopened schools will have significant restrictions on field trips and visitors, we are moving Civics First programming to a virtual platform for the coming year. We are fortunate that many of the national groups with which we are affiliated are developing program-specific guidelines to facilitate this transition to virtual programming in a secure manner.

We plan to follow a schedule similar to that of last year for our programs, commencing with the release of mock trial problems in early September and October for high school and middle respectively, with high school mock trials to commence in December. Debate will remain a spring program, although we are considering offering an informal fall debate using last spring's topics to test the platform. Erin Simcik will be in touch with the We the People community about any changes to that program's schedule. Program fees will remain the same as last year, with waivers given in cases of school need.

Should you have program-specific questions, please feel free to reach out to the following Civics First board members:

Mock Trial:  Jon Weiner ([email protected])

Debate: Scott Garosshen ([email protected])

We the People: Erin Simcik ([email protected])

Although we all know that virtual programming is no match for the in-person educational experience, Civics First remains committed to continuity in our programming during this extraordinarily difficult time in our country's history. We hope that you and your students will join us this year.

Best regards,

Jon

Jonathan Weiner

Civics First Board President