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LegiSchool Project
The LegiSchool Project is a civic education collaboration between California State University, Sacramento, and the California State Legislature, administered by the Center for California Studies. The Project’s mission is to engage California’s high school students in matters of public policy and state government by creating opportunities for students and state leaders to meet and share ideas on issues affecting Californians. In doing so, we hope to motivate young people to take an interest in the public life around them and to encourage their active participation in our political process.
For the 2024-2025 school year, LegiSchool will continue to offer both in-person and online programming. Our student-led Town Hall Meetings, Summer Civics Institute, contests and curriculum materials are all ways that students can learn to take initiative, be involved and connect to state government and public service. LegiSchool's programs are designed to provide a broad, easy-to-understand background on the complex issues faced by the state.
Learn more about LegiSchool by reading the LegiSchool blog!
Want to know more about this year's plan? Check out the 2024/25 Legischool Newsletter!
Want to get on our mailing lists about Town Halls, Contests, and Internship opportunities? Fill out our online form.
Town Hall Meetings
Teachers and students will be able to participate in our Town Hall Meetings by joining us at Downtown Sacramento. Our Town Hall Meetings gives students the chance to discuss important policy issues and will feature high school students as our panel moderators. State Capitol tours are provided for each participating class and transportation costs are covered by LegiSchool. . Please contact rotcehernandez@csus.edu to register your class.
2024-2025 Town Hall Meetings
- October 18, 2024: Voting in California
- December 13, 2024: Health & Government
- February 21, 2025: Technology and AI
- April 25, 2025: Environmental Issues
Recordings of previous Town Hall Meetings
If you are an educator interested in registering your class to our Town Hall Meetings, please contact legischool@csus.edu for more information. Supplemental curriculum guides are offered for each Town Hall Meeting and transportation costs are fully covered by LegiSchool.
Contests
LegiSchool facilitates contests each year that are available to California high school students. See below for date and topic information for each contest. If you have any questions, please email legischool@csus.edu.
Video Contest
Join students from across the state and participate in our newest contest! Whether through ASMR, skits, dances, memes, fan cams, lip-syncing or funny edits, show us how creative you can be when discussing the political process! Complete details available Spring 2025.
Submissions open in January – link coming soon.
Deadline: May 31, 2025
Essay Contest
Youth Voting in California
In the United States, you must be at least 18 years old to vote in state and federal elections. However, children and teenagers under 18 are significantly impacted by laws and policies shaped by elected officials, even though they don't have the right to vote for those leaders. In the 1970s, the legal voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, partly because young men could be drafted into the U.S.- Vietnam War at 18. Many felt it was only fair to give them a voice in decisions that could affect their lives so directly. Do you think the voting age should be lowered again? Why or why not? If so, at what age should children or teenagers be able to vote?
All high school students are invited to submit their essay response to our annual LegiSchool Essay Contest! Selected winners will be chosen to participate in the Legislative Summit, where they will be able to share their thoughts and ideas with policymakers on a roundtrip visit to Sacramento.
Deadline: January 31, 2025
2025 LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute
The LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute gives a select number of California high school students the unique opportunity to participate in an intensive 4-week online summer program that explores important policy issues in California and provides students the tools to develop leadership and professional skills. Students will meet virtually on Mondays, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from June 23 – July 18.
Students will learn about each of the three branches of government with an emphasis on public service and the political process. Activities include: online discussions to learn more about state agencies and the judicial branch, research projects focused on important California policy issues, and speaker sessions and professional workshops led by the branch experts themselves.
A stipend will be provided to the student upon completion of the summer program. The internship is open to all sophomore, junior and senior high school students in California. The LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute is a summer internship program and is not a Sacramento State college course.
Application open February 2025.
Deadline: June 6, 2025