O-A CSD - NYS SEAL OF CIVIC READINESS SYMPOSIUM

The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District hosted their New York State Seal of Civic Readiness Symposium Monday afternoon.

The New York State Seal of Civic Readiness is a new class created by New York State during the 2022-2023 school year, that focuses less on textbook learning, but rather more hands-on, real-life learning.  The goal is to help students achieve a high level of proficiency in civic knowledge, skills, and participatory experiences to become active, engaged members of society.
 
Currently, there are over 500 school districts in New York State that have applied and got approved to offer the Seal of Civic Readiness class, including all twenty-two districts within the Genesee Valley BOCES region.
This is Oakfield-Alabama’s third year of offering this course that is led by Mrs. Tracy Schlagenhauf and Mr. Peter Beuler.
                
Every district runs their Seal of Civic Readiness class differently, but at Oakfield-Alabama, the students complete a group project where they select an issue to do research on and produce two products; one to inform the public about their cause and one that takes action, to bring positive change to their issue.
 
This year’s class of senior Teagan Falk and juniors Colin Kirkum and Landon Pangrazio tackled the issue of early literacy by organizing and running a ‘Reading Awareness Night’ at the local Haxton Memorial Library.

Once they completed their group project, the students were assigned to do the whole process again, but individually on a topic they were truly passionate about bring positive change to.  Monday afternoon was where they had the opportunity to showcase their Capstone Project; to explain their research, how they informed people, and what actions they took to move the needle of change.
 
The class presented in front of a panel that consisted of OA administration that gave feedback and asked pointed questions concerning their Capstone Projects, alongside their family and classmates.

This year’s Capstone Projects were:
                                -Senior Teagan Falk:  Barriers to Healthcare
                                -Junior Colin Kirkum:  Improving the Education of Students with ADHD
                                -Junior Landon Pangrazio:  ICE Reform

We were honored to have Mr. Nick D’Amuro, from Genesee Valley BOCES, in attendance, as he leads the Seal of Civic Readiness classes for our entire region.   At the conclusion of the presentations, he presented Landon Pangrazio with the Lulu Westbrook Griffin & Frances Willard Award.
 
Genesee Valley BOCES gives out awards, called ‘The Civi Awards’, for the best Capstone Projects, and Landon was the third OA student to get this honor.
 
Landon’s award, the Lulu Westbrook Griffin & Frances Willard Award recognizes the student who identified a significant political, economic, and/or societal issue affecting citizens in their community, state, or nation as a whole and who took informed action to raise awareness about the issue, but also encouraged other citizens to take their own action in relation to the issue identified.

Our New York State Seal of Civic Readiness Symposium was concluded with one more award being presented, the inaugural Susan B. Anthony Award. This award recognizes an educator in the Genesee Valley Region who demonstrates exceptional commitment to civic education and civic leadership. Before her nationally recognized activism, Susan B. Anthony spent fifteen years as a teacher in New York State. This award honors educators who, like Anthony, empower students through civic learning, foster informed engagement, and model the civic values essential to a healthy democracy.
 
The Susan B. Anthony Award was given to Mrs. Tracy Schlagenhauf for not only bringing and creating the Seal of Civic Readiness class for our OA district, but for her relentless passion for not only empowering students to become the best versions of themselves, but to help them discover that they have the capability of making a difference in others and their community.
A huge congratulations goes out to our Seal of Civic Readiness students; Teagan, Landon, Colin, and our own Mrs. Schlagnehauf.  The Oakfield-Alabama district and community is very proud of this important achievement.