The Rockville City Academy returns in April, with a new format and focus to empower community members and encourage civic participation and change.
This year’s program will use a hybrid format, with participants interacting in person and online through a course on the education platform edX. The course, ”We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy,” will give participants a foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy, an understanding of how to encourage others to explore their own civic paths, and tools for crafting their own civic voice and identity.
It is built on more than 10 years of academic research through the Democratic Knowledge Project, an initiative of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. The academy program will also examine how the City of Rockville operates, with a close look at city departments and services.
The academy, from Tuesday, April 9-Tuesday, May 21, will include seven online sessions for participants to complete at their own pace and four in-person sessions to discuss what participants have learned and connect them with city staff who help make Rockville a more inclusive and engaged place.
In-person sessions will be held from 7-9 p.m. on select Tuesdays in April and May, with a tour of the city’s water treatment plant from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 11. Students can earn up to 14 Student Service Learning hours by attending all the sessions and presenting a community project.
Registration opens Monday, March 4. For more information and to register, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/academy.