McConnell Center, KEDC Announce 2025 Student Citizen Project

Louisville, Ky. (February 4, 2025) – The McConnell Center at the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC) are pleased to announce the 2025 Student Citizen Project. 

The Student Citizen Project is a civic education initiative designed for Kentucky students. The goal of the project is threefold: 1) to enrich students’ knowledge of government structures and processes, 2) to encourage citizens of all ages to take an active role in working for the common good of our communities, and 3) to help foster a civic environment that yields healthy conversations and quells unnecessary polarization.

All Kentucky students, grades 5-12, are eligible to participate in the Student Citizen Project. Students who complete the project will be on track to earn their civic seal from the Kentucky Secretary of State. 

“Too often we hear about the declining state of civic health across Kentucky and our nation, but few potential solutions materialize,” said Dr. Gary Gregg, Director of the McConnell Center. “Together with KEDC, the McConnell Center is proud to offer The Student Citizen Project as a contribution to help cultivate informed, virtuous, and engaged citizens in our communities.”

Mrs. Nancy Hutchinson, Chief Executive Officer of KEDC, expressed her enthusiasm for the initiative, stating, "We are proud to collaborate with the McConnell Center to advance civic engagement in K-12 throughout Kentucky. This partnership highlights the importance of empowering our students to understand their role in shaping the future. Together, we are working to inspire the next generation of leaders by fostering a lifelong commitment to civic responsibility."

Students will consider a prompt pertaining to a constitutional issue/question, formulate an answer, and record a video of themselves verbally delivering their answer as if in front of a panel of judges. More detailed information, including all project requirements, the prompt, and a scoring rubric, is available on both the McConnell Center and the KEDC websites.

After reviewing all submissions against the scoring rubric, the McConnell Center and KEDC will choose a winner and runner-up in each grade-band (5, 6-8, 9-12). The winning individual or team in each grade-band will receive $100 from KEDC, and the runner-up individual or team in each grade band will receive $50 from KEDC.

The submission deadline for the Student Citizen Project is Friday, April 4. 

Please contact Meghan Waters (meghan.waters@louisville.edu) and Wendy King (wendy.king@kedc.org) with questions.