Orange, CA – March 11, 2020 – Four Orange Unified schools, Linda Vista Elementary, Chapman Hills Elementary, Villa Park Elementary, and Santiago Charter Middle School, received the prestigious 2020 Civic Learning Award of Merit. Co-sponsored by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, this program recognizes K-12 public schools, celebrating their strong civics curriculum in school and service-learning projects in their communities. 

Schools were awarded the Civic Learning Award  in one or more of the following areas:  discussions regarding current local, national, or international issues and events,  performing school or community service(s) linked to the formal curriculum and classroom instruction (e.g., service learning), offering of extracurricular activities that provide opportunities for young people to get involved in their school or community (such as mock trial club), participation in classroom and/or school governance, student participation in simulations or role-plays of democratic processes and procedures,  instruction in government, history, law, and democracy, beyond rote facts and dry procedures.  

Santiago Charter is honored to be recognized for their civic learning curriculum for the fourth consecutive year. Santiago’s 2020 Civic Learning honor highlights the collaboration between content area departments to help students identify a need in the community, research the need, development an action plan to raise money, bring awareness and take informed action to support the need. 

Chapman Hills Elementary is honored to receive a Civic Learning Merit Award in recognition of their AVID Student Leadership’s work around campus in addition to their collaboration with the Chapman Hills PTA to support the Holiday Heroes event.  

Linda Vista Elementary is honored to be recognized for promoting civic learning through schoolwide events such as Constitution Day, when their fifth-grade students focus on the events and people that made our Constitution possible and bring this important information to life for the younger students at Linda Vista. By becoming the critical characters in the quest for freedom and democracy, students learn the importance of civic responsibility.

Villa Park Elementary is honored to be selected as a 2020 Civic Learning Merit recipient in recognition of their peer mediation program, Restorative Practices, and service learning.

Congratulations to the principals and staff of these four excellent schools for this great achievement. One note of distinction the award program also identifies are models that can be replicated in other schools; we are looking forward to having our award recipients sharing the #EDGE across Orange Unified.