Ryan.Owens@fsu.edu<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nIn what ways\u00a0does\u00a0modern\u00a0civics\u00a0education help connect\u00a0and deepen students\u2019 understanding of Memorial Day?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Benjamin Franklin famously said we have \u201cA Republic, if [we] can keep it.\u201d Memorial Day reminds us that many Americans gave their lives to keep that republic. Modern\u00a0civics\u00a0education should ensure the next generation understands both the cost of that inheritance and their responsibility to carry it forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that vein,\u00a0civics\u00a0education should transfer information and cultivate gratitude,\u00a0responsibility\u00a0and citizenship. Students should understand not only\u00a0how\u00a0American government works, but\u00a0why\u00a0generations of Americans believed it was worth defending with their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the IGC, we want students to understand that freedom is not self-sustaining. Every generation inherits it, but every generation must also preserve it.\u00a0Memorial Day becomes deeper and more meaningful when students understand the ideals behind the\u00a0sacrifice\u00a0so many have\u00a0made:\u00a0constitutional liberty, freedom of conscience, self-government\u00a0and the responsibilities that come with citizenship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How can presenting\u00a0civics\u00a0history in both an immersive and interactive form\u00a0allow students to better understand the cost of liberty\u00a0and military sacrifice?\u00a0<\/p>\n
We believe students better understand the cost of liberty and military sacrifice when they are not merely passive recipients of information, but active participants in historical inquiry and civic reflection. For example, when students debate the Constitutional Convention, reenact the arguments between Federalists and Anti-Federalists, analyze battlefield decisions at Gettysburg, simulate Supreme Court arguments\u00a0or wrestle with the moral and political dilemmas faced by prior generations, history becomes more tangible. Students learn liberty was not\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and is not\u00a0\u2014\u00a0inevitable. It is contested,\u00a0defended\u00a0and often\u00a0purchased\u00a0at extraordinary human cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through interactive\u00a0civics\u00a0education, students will come to appreciate what Lincoln once told us at Gettysburg, that \u201cFrom these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While tough to predict, could this type of enhanced\u00a0civics\u00a0education (such\u00a0as the Founding Voices program) create a new wave of patriotism in the younger generation?\u00a0<\/p>\n
We hope it builds a reflective patriotism\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a form of love of country grounded in thoughtfulness,\u00a0honesty\u00a0and civic responsibility rather than blind loyalty or reflexive nationalism.\u00a0Reflective patriotism asks citizens to appreciate their nation\u2019s principles and achievements while also recognizing its imperfections and working to improve them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A reflective patriot does not believe the country is flawless. Nor does he or she believe the country is irredeemable. Instead, a reflective patriot understands the American experiment as an ongoing project\u00a0\u2014\u00a0one built on enduring ideals like liberty, equality before the law, constitutional\u00a0government\u00a0and self-rule, but one that has always\u00a0required\u00a0correction, debate,\u00a0sacrifice\u00a0and renewal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Founding Voices program\u00a0will\u00a0deliver 100 in-school seminars over three years, reach approximately\u00a040,000 students\u00a0and teachers, use live and AI-generated historical\u00a0interpreters\u00a0and integrate primary-source instruction. Our goal is to\u00a0determine\u00a0whether students who are exposed to the civics-in-real-life approach become more excited to learn. And\u00a0if\u00a0we can create more reflective patriots, all the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida State University Institute for Governance and Civics uses an interactive way of teaching that could help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56745,93637,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-276949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-college-of-social-sciences-and-public-policy","tag-institute-for-governance-and-civics","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"According](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Memorial_Day_Expert_Pitch_Cover.png\")
The Florida State University Institute for Governance and Civics uses an interactive way of teaching that could help students become better connected with the true meaning of Memorial Day. (Adobe Stock photo)\t\t<\/p>\n