APS's Student
Initiative

APS's Student Initiative

In 2020, our Student Initiative outlines a renewed approach allowing American Public Square at Jewell to partner meaningfully with teachers, students and administrators at both the high school and college level to then support students in applying their knowledge to produce compelling and relevant programs on significant and difficult issues in our community.

Through this work, we communicate and reinforce the message that being capable of having fact-based, civil conversations with people who see issues differently is a worthwhile, and in fact, critical skill that forms the basis for our great democracy.

High School

At the High School level, we have launched an academic year-long program that features civil discourse curriculum in the Fall and Spring semesters. In partnership with community members and curriculum consultants in the KC metro, we have created a 3-part Learning Series called, Let’s Talk KC! to be taught in the Fall segment of APS’s High School Student Initiative. What students learn in the Fall semester will be directly applied to a Project-based Learning (PBL) experience in the Spring semester that gives all participating classrooms across the metro the opportunity to work together to build out their own APS style program.

College

The College Level of our Student Initiative can be segmented into two opportunities:

Student Planning Committee

APS and KCCG interns will participate in and oversee the APS Student Committee, with support from the APS Student Initiative Coordinator. The primary responsibility of the Student Planning Committee is to plan and execute a student-led APS style program in April (Spring Semester) or November (Fall Semester).

2020 Student Programs

The Fight for Out Future: Addressing Climate Change and Individual Responsibility

Coffee and Politics: Voting with Purpose in 2020 Part 1

Coffee and Politics: Voting with Purpose in 2020 Part 2

Internship Program

Beginning in the Spring of 2020, APS renewed its efforts to support real-world learning and professional development opportunities with a Structured Internship program. Currently, APS opens its doors to two different internships each semester. the Program Internship and the Marketing and Communications Internship. Learn more about these opportunities and apply by contacting APS’s Student Initiative Coordinator, Allison Koelzer, here.