In October, Executive Director Justin Powell, was invited to be on a panel at a civics education conference held at Utah Valley University. The panel was moderated by Stan Swim, the Chief Program Officer at Bill of Rights Institute based in Washington DC. Other panelists included Lauri Updike, who is a big part of the homeschooling network in Utah, and Axel Ramirez, a professor of social studies at Utah Valley University.
The main draw for the panel was Sharon McMahon, known as “America’s government teacher” and a famous Instagramer by the handle of @SharonSaysSo. Sharon has over 1 million followers, she’s releasing a book next year, and has one of the highest rated podcasts in the United States. She is a big advocate of helping people of all ages engage in the civic process in respectful and productive ways.
Justin was able to talk about the power that doing service has to create the ability for students to understand their communities better, to begin caring about their communities as they build emotional bonds with different populations, and how that can lead to bigger actions as both a humanitarian and as a civically-engaged citizen.
Under Justin’s leadership, Youthlinc has been working with the State Board of Education and the Center of Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University for the past year. Last spring, Youthlinc cohosted an event with the State Board of Education and Utah Valley University to highlight students who are doing amazing work in their communities to promote leadership and civic engagement. The event was called MyImpactChallenge.
We are proud to announce that Youthlinc Young Humanitarian Award winner, Audrey Su, who Youthlinc referred to that program was the top winner at the event.