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Want a chance to make a difference AND win a $20 Amazon gift card?

Participate in Discovering Justice’s Civic

Superhero Contest by showcasing your civic responsibility and creating a project that supports others during COVID 19!

Present and share this slideshow with your students as a teaching tool and introduction to the project / contest. Let students know that they will have a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card with this project. The slideshow first introduces students to the idea of civic responsibility, then shows how people come together as a community and stepped up as individuals during times of crisis. After looking at some examples from the past, we look at examples from the current crisis of COVID-19. We then end by asking for students to think about how they can step up and become “civic superheros”. Contest details and directions are explained at the end. Please make sure to read thoroughly so your students (and you) can win an Amazon gift card in addition to doing good in the world! Students k-12 across Massachusetts are welcome to participate!

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Not All Heroes Wear Capes

Showcasing Civic Responsibility During COVID 19

Discovering Justice Civic Superhero Contest

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Civic Responsibility

Being civically responsible means…

Having a positive, caring attitude
Knowing your community and the challenges it faces
Working towards making your community and world a better place

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Voting
Volunteering or community service
Donating money to a charity (fundraising)
Recycling
Picking up litter or not littering
Being respectful towards or helping others
Campaigning or collecting signatures
Talking to your friends, family, and neighbors about community issues
Joining or starting groups that work to improve your community

Everyday Examples of Civic Responsibility

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Where are we today?

Due to COVID-19, our everyday lives have have changed and been restricted:

People are required to socially distance
Schools have moved to online learning
Restaurants and parks are closed
Hospitals are at capacity caring for the sick
People are feeling isolated and alone
Everyone is facing unique challenges and doing their best to adjust to new routines

Although we cannot be together in person, people are finding ways to support each other and be civically responsible in new and creative ways!

Before we discuss some examples, let’s look at times we have banded together before…..

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Time and time again we see that when disasters happen, people step up and band together to provide relief, support, care, and community. Often times, we see people’s best selves during times of need or crisis.

We have been through challenging times before

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Examples of Civic Responsibility in Past Times of Crisis

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Earthquake in Haiti (2010)

Fundraising efforts
Other countries sent doctors to Haiti to help provide medical support
Volunteers rebuilt schools and homes that were destroyed
People donated supplies

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Hurricane Sandy (2012)

Assistance from the Red Cross
School food drives
Students across the country sent packages of food, clothes, and books to those who had been displaced by Sandy

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Australia Forest Fires (2019)

Community members became volunteer firefighters
Community members knitted blankets/pouches for animals that lost their homes

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See How People Now Are Practicing Civic Responsibility During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Click the links on the following slides!

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Spreading Positive Messages

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Offering Connection

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Providing Support for People in Need

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South African footballer, Thembi Junior Kgatlana, posts on IG to encourage others to stop the spread
Artist Juan Delcan creates visual arts piece urging people to stay at home and stop the spread
Nurses and doctors kindly remind people to do their part

Keeping the Community Healthy

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What are some examples that you’ve seen?

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Everyone has a Civic Responsibility and the power to make a difference!

We don’t all have the dance moves of Diddy, Tyler Perry’s bank account, the stamina to DJ for 9 hours straight like DJ D-Nice, or the ability to go back in time like the Avengers did in Endgame. However, we can all be civic superheros in our own way by stepping up for others in a time of need.

We are all experiencing the unknown challenges of this new “normal” together and it is our civic responsibility to help out and support each other however we can.

Think about how you can use your own unique skills, talents, interests, and experience to offer support to or help your community.

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Discovering Justice

Civic Superhero Project

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Brainstorming Ideas for

Discovering Justice Civic Superhero Project

Questions to Consider for your Project:

Who are people who need help and support (ie: your neighborhood, family, classmates, teachers, general public, healthcare workers, grocery store workers, postal carriers, etc)?
What can you do to help and support them? You may click here or here to help you think of some ideas.
What is the best way to do it? Make a video? Chalk the sidewalk? Sing a song? Give food or supplies to people in need?
Should you do this project by yourself or virtually with others? (classmates, siblings)

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Directions

Decide who you are helping / doing the project for.
Choose your purpose. Are you informing, taking action or providing needed support, sharing a message of encouragement or gratitude, connecting people, etc.?
Select your mode (ie, piece of art, song, video message, video collage, phone calls, written post or letter, service project, etc.). What is the finished project that you are creating?
Create your project and do it! Make sure you capture it by video, picture, etc. so you can share!
Fill out this project info form. Submit your project and form to your teacher by email, so they can submit it to us!
If you or your parent has a social media account, you can post your project there with the hashtag #DJsuperhero.
Projects with permission, will be showcased by Discovering Justice through #DJsuperhero and winners will receive an Amazon gift card!

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Contest Winners

Contest winners will receive an Amazon gift card! Winners will be determined based on the following criteria:

Project follows all directions on previous page (ie: has a clear target audience, a clear message/purpose)
Project showcases positive student civic responsibility
Project is original / creative
Project is submitted by teacher along with info form no later than June 19, 2020

Upon submission, we will reach out to student’s parents/guardians with request for permission to post your project on our social media #DJsuperhero. Winners will receive Amazon gift card on July 1, 2020!

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Details

Students:

While completing your Civic Hero project, keep in mind that your project may be shared by Discovering Justice online, so do not record or submit information that you are not comfortable with being shared.
Complete this form about your project. Make sure parent email address is correct.
Submit your project and info form form by email to your teacher before June 19, 2020.
Discovering Justice will reach out to parent/guardian email for permission to post on our social media.
On July 1, 2020, the students with the winning projects will receive a $20 amazon gift card at the email address listed on your info form.

Teachers:

Teachers should submit all student projects and their accompanying info forms via email to CivicHero@discoveringjustice.org no later than June 19th.
Emails should be titled ‘Civic Superhero Contest Submission’ and clearly identify which project belongs to which student (or send one by one).
We welcome any number of submissions, but as an extra thank you, teachers who submit 12 or more student projects will receive a $10 amazon gift card via email on July 1, 2020.