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Local
Resource Guide:
Tool for Responsible Citizenship (Cumberland County,
PA)
Informed civic participation is now easier
for Cumberland County residents, with the publication of the Kids
Around Town Cumberland County
Sourcebook. Created by East Pennsboro educators
under a grant from the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
Citizen Education Fund, the Sourcebook helps students
and other interested citizens find public, informational resources
through annotated listings of important governmental and non-profit
agencies.
The Sourcebook is
a tool to help expand KAT capacity to students throughout the Cumberland
County region. Similar Resource Books are available for Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh
How
It Works:
The
63-page guide is indexed according to public issues that citizens
may wish to address. For example, if a class wishes to study "public
health," students will find that those Key Words in the
Index direct them to 14 separate government entries and 7 different
non-profit entries in the color-coded pages of the Sourcebook; readers
can then turn to those specific entries for contact information
and to get an overview of the work of those agencies perform. The Key
Word Index is extensive, including topics like "abuse" and "aging," "business" and "employment," "landfill," "transportation," "watershed," and "zoning."
Where It Fits:
Kids
Around Town is
an award-winning, interdisciplinary education program developed
ten years ago by the LWVPA-CEF in cooperation with West Chester
University to empower students with skills of responsible civic
participation. Using the inquiry and research-based process, KAT
students select local issues, and work with their community to
try to improve the underlying problems. KAT offers staff development
under Act 48; the KAT Manual, Orientation
Video and Special
Learners Toolbox can be ordered from
this website.
Written By Practitioners!
Carrie Lewis, third grade
teacher at West Creek Hills Elementary School , led a team of colleagues
in compiling and writing the Cumberland
County Sourcebook. Starting with Imagination Station,
and including the adopted road, the town's flower barrels and banners,
and most recently, the Peace sculpture in the Memory Garden , East
Pennsboro is rich with the impact of KAT projects conducted by KAT
students under the leadership of Lewis, with support of township
manager Bob Gill.
To
Order:
Hard copies of the Cumberland
County Sourcebook are still available. Yours will be mailed to
you when we receive your name, address, phone number and $5 per
copy (payable to LWVPA-CEF/KAT) to cover mailing and handling.
You may use this printable form for your convenience.
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