Kentucky Civic Seal

The Kentucky Civic Education Coalition and Kentucky’s Secretary of State Office are collaborating to create a Kentucky civic seal program: the Kentucky Civic Seal.

Capitalizing on the strong civic program created by the state’s social studies standards, the Civic Seal will further encourage and incentivize informed, engaged civic learning in and outside of the schooling context.

In January 2023, a Civic Seal Advisory Board met to deliberate on Civic Seal criteria. For the 2023-24 school year, we have 10 schools with one or more teachers participating in a piloting of the Seal. The purpose of the pilot is to learn about enactment of the Seal, create resources, and consider administrative supports to help sustain the program. Outcomes from the pilot will include insights into possible revisions, resources, and example forms of enactment.  

Civic Seal Resource Website:
​kycivicseal.org

What makes the Kentucky Civic Seal unique?
​The Kentucky Civic Seal is grounded in flexibility and an expanded definition of civic engagement.  It is flexible in that it is designed to encourage existing civic programming, as well as allow teachers to consider how it can align with their current practices, rather than being "one more thing" or an additional requirement.

As we expand traditional definitions of civic engagement to include all informed participation in civic spaces, it encourages young people to consider the multitude of ways that they already participate in civics, as well as demonstrate new pathways they can build.  Particularly in rural spaces, which often present less opportunities for civic engagement, this approach supports students across diverse circumstances.

Vertical Divider

Sign up for Updates
Follow us on Facebook
​See our Resource page
KY Civic Seal page

What is KCEC?

The Kentucky Council for the Social Studies (KCSS) is organizing the Kentucky Civic Education Coalition (KCEC). Just like our state motto--united we stand, divided we fall--by collaborating with the bluegrass’ leaders, educators, and advocates for civic learning, we can stand together and make Kentucky a national example of civics as a core component of every young person’s education. 
What are we doing?
We are building a non-partisan coalition of nonprofits, educators, business and community leaders, think tanks, universities, and other partners committed to preparing all students to be informed, engaged participants in civic life. If you support civic education in Kentucky, KCEC is your way to help!
​
We are coming together to advocate on behalf of civic education legislation/policies, funding, and resources. We strive to create bipartisan collaboration that will strengthen civic education in public schools and; likewise, will work together to ensure successful implementation of said policies. 
​

MISSION​

Our mission is to promote civic education and engagement in Kentucky by convening a broad range of stakeholders committed to building support for legislation, funding, and policies that promote high quality and civic learning opportunities for students, teachers, and communities.

VISION

We envision a state where all students have opportunities for high-quality civic education that prepare them to be thoughtful, informed, and actively-engaged members of their communities, locally and beyond.
What are our goals?
  • Advocacy: Collaborate with policymakers to ensure Kentucky students have access to authentic, high-quality civic education.
  • Professional Community: Build a community of practice with organizations to provide resources, professional development, and civic learning programming.
  • Public Engagement: Build public awareness of the importance and needs of meaningful civic education; create pathways between the community and schools.​
How will we operate?
At present, our main focus is capacity-building.  We have been convening the Executive Committee regularly, where we discuss ways to advocate, build capacity, and grow our impact. Going forward, we hope to provide additional opportunities for engagement across our networks.
Current Projects
We recently received a grant from CivXNow (the advocacy arm of iCivics). With these funds, we have begun curating standards-aligned resources (link coming soon!), conduct workshops with pre-service educators and at the KCSS Fall Conference, and are developing a civic seal program with Kentucky's Secretary of State.

CONTACT

For more information about KCEC, email the coalition chair, Carly Muetterties and/or KCSS.
Organizational Structure
KCEC is housed under KCSS, a 501(c)3 organization and must abide by lobbying restrictions, meaning lobbying is not a “substantial” part of the organization’s activities, as defined by the IRS. (See more here). Rather, our focus is on advocacy -- elevating our voices about civic education with policymakers or the public. Advocacy can entail: Grassroots organizing, public education, public education, policy research, lobbying, position papers or statements on issues, voter registration, coalition participation or building, and election activities.

The chair and co-chair of KCEC is determined by the KCSS officers (President, Vice President, Secretary).

Executive Committee

  • Michael Adams, Secretary of State
    • Michon Lindstrom, Director of Communications
    • Greg McNeill, Senior Advisor
  • Lauren Gallicchio (Heather Ransom), Kentucky Department of Education Academic Program Consultants for social studies
    • As designee for Commissioner Jason Glass
  • Rachel Platt (Megan Schanie), Frazier History Museum
  • Scott Alvey (Jodi Lewis), executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society
  • Glenn Manns, State Coordinator, Kentucky: We the People and Project Citizen, former president of KCSS
  • Julie Kuhnhein, Kids Vote NKY
  • Jami Martinez Reynolds, Elizabethtown High School, Assistant Principal of Academics
  • Sarah McIntosh, Jefferson County Public Schools, School Board member
  • Harmony Hendrick, elementary teacher, standards advisory panel
  • Jennifer Barlow, Burgin Independent High School teacher
  • Daniela DiGiacomo, University of Kentucky professor, specialization in civic education
  • Richard Young (Stephanie Mobley), executive director of CivicLex
  • Kevin Presnell, instructional coach, Madison County; Prichard Committee Fellow
  • Wallace Caleb Bates, Kentucky Department of Education Division of Communications, EKU Communications student
  • Pragya Upreti, UNC-Chapel Hill student; Senior Advisor to the KY Student Voice Team
  • Ryan New, Instructional Lead for social studies, Jefferson County Public Schools, parent of Kentucky students
  • Kay Hedrick, Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC), Educational Design Coordinator 
  • Adam Webster, Logan County High School teacher
  • Amy Olson, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Youth Services Consultant
  • Paul Bartels, Ashland, Henry Clay Estate, Tours & Education Manager
  • Mark Neikirk, Director of the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement, NKU 
  • Susan Weston, League of Women Voters
  • Richard Clay, The Filson Historical Society, President and CEO
  • Ashleigh Hazley, Muhammad Ali Center, Senior Manager of Programming and Community Engagement
  • Amanda Pile Chism, Vice President for the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association
  • Andrew Danner, Former President for KCSS
  • Carly Muetterties, KCEC chair