By John Fensterwald, Photo: Green Team/Riverside STEM High School, EdSource, February 8, 2022
Fresno Unified is among the school districts encouraging students to become civically engaged and in the process earn a seal affixed to their high school diploma that recognizes their involvement. The State Seal of Civic Engagement recognizes not only that students understand the democratic process but also apply their knowledge to address issues or problems they care deeply about in school or the community.
“In a time of rancor, the seal in my mind could not have a greater importance,” Superintendent Bob Nelson said. He spoke last week the morning after the president of his school board shut down a raucous meeting when one board member and a member of the public engaged in a shouting match and a contingent of vaccination opponents showed up to lash out at another board member for posting a sarcastic tweet mocking their views.
“Students must learn to self-advocate for issues they believe in a productive way without harming someone else or impugning the character of someone who disagrees with you,” Nelson said. “Adults are not doing great now at modeling behavior for students.”
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