Since launching our Strengthening Civics Education in Appalachian Ohio program in partnership with the Longaberger Family Foundation in 2019, we have awarded more than $135,000 in funding to provide K-12 students with opportunities to study, participate in and experience what it means to be engaged in their communities.
The goal? To equip Appalachian Ohio’s youth with the knowledge and tools to be future leaders for their communities.
Applications for 2025 civics education grants closed on March 14. Eleven grants, totaling $39,435, were awarded. Read about the 2025 civics education grant recipients.
Previous grant recipients
- The Academy for Urban Scholars Youngstown (Mahoning County) to fund local field trips to government offices, historical sites and community organizations. These visits will allow students to observe the daily operations of local government, engage with local leaders and public officials, and explore historical landmarks and their significance in civic history.
- Cambridge City Schools in Guernsey County to expand the district’s Ohio Model United Nations team to the middle school and support student participation in the state conference.
- Carrollton Exempted Village Schools in Carroll County to purchase a collection of library books that will enhance civics education for K-4 students. These materials will be incorporated into classroom curriculum and civics-focused library events and discussions.
- Columbiana County Educational Service Center to support leadership training for the Columbiana Business Advisory Council’s Student Leadership Team, composed of one student from each school district in the county who serve as a student voice on the council. The group will collaborate with local government officials and their peers to identify pressing issues in the community and develop solutions.
- Eastern Local School District in Meigs County to support student participation in the Ohio Model United Nations Conference, a three-day education simulation that allows youth to learn about the United Nations.
- Howland Schools in Trumbull County to help fund the expansion of the mock trial team that was established this school year. The team provides students with opportunities to learn about the judicial system while promoting civic engagement.
- Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past to fund speakers for the Youngstown-based nonprofit’s civics education program, which educates K-12 students on the importance of civics and being informed and engaged community members.
- Paper City Mentoring Project to support a summer civics series that will immerse Ross County teenagers, including those who participate in the organization’s school-based mentoring program, in local history, government and youth-led community service.
- United Local Schools in Columbiana County to support a student-led civic engagement project, through which students will shadow local elected officials, identify community issues, conduct research, develop policy-driven recommendations and present their projects at a town hall meeting or government session.
- Vinton County Local Schools to fund a civics-focused eighth-grade field trip to Columbus, which will include a tour of the Ohio Statehouse.
- Weathersfield Local Schools in Trumbull County to ensure all seventh-grade students can participate in an annual Washington, D.C., trip to learn about the federal government, the nation’s history and how to engage with locally elected officials.
- The Academy for Urban Scholars Youngstown, serving Mahoning and Trumbull counties, to purchase equipment to launch a student-led, civics-based podcast featuring civic leaders.
- The Boys & Girls Club of Washington County to expand its Summer Brain Gain program to include social studies and civics, with an emphasis on American civics and democracy.
- Caldwell Exempted Village School District in Noble County to support student participation in the Ohio Model United Nations Conference, a three-day education simulation that allows youth to learn about the United Nations.
- Lawrence County to support the Lawrence County Civic Scholars Fellowship, which places students in local government offices to learn about public service.
- Majestic Galleries in Athens County to support a visual arts contest through which K-12 classrooms throughout Appalachian Ohio will create paper quilts based on a civics prompt that will be exhibited in conjunction with accompanying events.
- Maysville Local Schools in Muskingum County to support high school students’ participation in National History Day competitions.
- Morgan Junior High School to support experiential learning in Marietta connected to the Northwest Territory, as well as participation in a service-learning project and opportunities to learn how civic engagement can positively impact quality of life.
- Rural Action to support its Youth Climate Action Teams for teens in Athens, Jackson and Ross counties. Team members will develop peer relationships and engage in civic projects informed by local needs and data.
- Southeast Ohio History Center to develop a social studies program for fourth- and eighth-graders in Athens County commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Fort Gower Resolves.
- Warren Local Schools in Washington County to fund Mock Trial expenses for students.
- Wellston High School in Jackson County to support student participation in the Ohio Youth in Government Conference at the Ohio Statehouse.
- Alexander High School to support the Think Globally, Act Locally project, which identifies humanitarian issues facing people globally and addresses those issues at the local level. High school students attended the Ohio Model United Nations conference and returned home to share their civics education experiences with middle school students and make positive change within their own community.
- Belmont County Sheriff’s Office (BSCO) to support the BSCO Explorers’ Post #7 project, which expanded and enriched Post #7 by recruiting new candidates and building the skills of existing Explorers.
- Cambridge High School Ohio Model United Nations to fund students’ attendance fees for the Ohio Model United Nations State Conference.
- Fort Frye High School to support Operation: Monument Restoration, a service-learning project through which students cleaned gravestones of community founders.
- Ohio Alliance of YMCAs Foundation to support the Ohio YMCA Youth and Government project, designed to encourage and support young citizens who are educated and passionate about being involved in their community and local democracy. Funding provided a supplemental curriculum for students who, within a mock-state government body, assessed community needs, wrote legislative bills and worked to resolve issues deepening their knowledge of democracy.
- Ohio FFA Foundation Inc. to provide scholarships for students to attend the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference.
- Ohio University to support the Strengthening Civics Education in Appalachian Ohio project. This project supported a pre-existing project by WOUB Public Media called “Our Ohio,” a documentary film project that challenges students to learn about and explore films about Appalachian cultural identity, community, media literacy and multimedia storytelling. The project introduced a film called “Portraits and Dreams” to students at Logan, South Gallia, Alexander, Wellston and Meigs high schools and asked them to participate in a virtual panel discussion and multimedia storytelling workshop held by WOUB.
- Ohio Valley Youth Network and Sycamore Youth Center to support the Sycamore Civic Literacy & Community Service program, which gives Jefferson County junior high and high school students the opportunity to study the history, structure and operations of local government.
- Ohio-West Virginia Youth Leadership Association (YLA) to send students to government seminars.
- Vinton County Middle School to support a project that teaches sixth-grade students about civic engagement and for field trips to the Cincinnati Art Museum and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
- Zanesville High School to help fund tours of some historical sites that have framed our nation from its founding to today.
- Adams County Ohio Valley School to support a project aimed at familiarizing students with the same touch technology used when voting.
- Cambridge City Schools to purchase a Chromebook cart to give students in the Ohio Model United Nations program the opportunity to learn about the world and prepare for the state conference in Columbus.
- Dawson Bryant Local School District to support the Lawrence County Scholars Fellowship project, which encourages high school juniors and seniors to intern for the county’s elected officials.
- Fort Frye Local School District to support the school district and the Sink or Swim project, which aimed to identify funding issues with community pools within the area.
- Logan-Hocking School District to support the Student Leadership and Community Partnership project, through which students pick a community provider and learn how the organization benefits the community.
- Switzerland of Ohio Local School District to provide and produce civics education literature, lesson plans and experiential learning for first- to fourth-grade classrooms.
- Warren Local Schools to support Warren High School’s expansion of student voting initiatives.
- Zanesville City School District to support digitizing the fourth-grade Ohio’s History through Art curriculum and a new 12-part gallery-experience video series that explores key images within the curriculum.