Congratulations to Vestavia Hills High School We the People Team! 4th Place Finish at National Competition

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution is the premier constitutional education program in the country. Developed by the Center for Civic Education, the program incorporates a curriculum for upper elementary, middle, and high school students on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. A simulated congressional hearing provides hands-on experiences for students. ACLCE provides professional development opportunities for teachers and conducts competitive high school and non-competitive middle school mock congressional hearings annually.


 

Teen Court of Jefferson County (Teen Court), Birmingham and Bessemer divisions, is a peer sentencing court for juvenile offenders. In Teen Court, defendants are represented and prosecuted by teens and go before a jury of their peers to receive a constructive sentence. Attorneys and other adults from the community serve as advisors to the young volunteers who gain hands-on knowledge of the juvenile and criminal justice system. Teens interested in volunteering to serve as attorneys, clerks, bailiffs, and jurors please visit the Teen Court section of this website.


Play by the Rules: Alabama Laws for Youth is a comprehensive juvenile law text and curriculum that uniquely fits the Alabama Course of Study seventh grade civics objectives. Its user-friendly, question-and-answer format includes a teacher's manual containing lesson plans and interactive teaching strategies. Play by the Rules has proved to be the most comprehensive law-related program for seventh grade in the United States. Visit our Play by the Rules website for more information.


Play by the Rules National Project provides other jurisdictions with a "proven" program that can be implemented and replicated. This award winning crime prevention model for teaching state-specific law to middle school students, teachers, parents and community leaders is based on the Play by the Rules program created by the ACLCE in 2000. The ultimate goal of this project is to have all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories participating in the PBR program.


Civitas International, coordinated by the Center for Civic Education, brings exemplary civic education curricula to students worldwide in partnership with organizations in the United States and in eighty countries. This unique network of educators, civil society organizations, educational institutions, and governmental agencies has worked for more than a decade to develop quality curricular materials and train teachers throughout Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Alabama is in a partnership with Missouri, Ohio, Morocco, South Africa, Ukraine and Poland.


Street Law trains law student volunteers to present law-related topics to students in the greater Birmingham area. The topics relate to real life issues and cover subjects such as shoplifting, bullying, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention. The format helps young people to develop their problem-solving skills and encourages discussion about practical solutions to legal dilemmas.