Make meaning
What mattered most about this work—and why?Choose the one idea you want people to remember.
College of EducationOffice of Innovative Professional Learning
Part 5 · Prepare, Share & Celebrate
Prepare to Share Civic Leadership
Help each team turn its project into a clear, evidence-based story—and arrive at the district Summit ready to listen, respond, and celebrate.
Purpose
Turn the project into a story worth sharing.
The preparation is brief by design. Students select what matters, connect claims to evidence, and practice explaining how the work changed their thinking.Leadership practice
Lead like a researcher.
Investigate before deciding. Listen before proposing. Use evidence before making a claim. Be willing to change your thinking when the evidence asks you to.
Learning experience
Four moves. Then rehearse.
Keep each move visible and concrete. Teams may use slides, a poster, artifacts, a demonstration, or another format that fits their work.Choose the evidence
What did we learn, and what supports that conclusion?Select one or two strong artifacts, examples, or findings.
Shape the story
How did our thinking and action develop?Build a clear five-part story: We noticed. We asked. We learned. We acted. We would.
Share the work
How will every team member contribute?Choose roles, rehearse once, and use listener feedback to make the story clearer.
Student story frame
Five short sentences can hold the whole journey.
Students can expand these into a presentation or use them as speaking notes.- We noticed…Name the issue and why it mattered to the team.
- We asked…Share the question that guided the work.
- We learned…Show the evidence and what it revealed.
- We acted…Explain what the team did and what happened.
- We would…Name the next step, recommendation, or hope.
Leadership practice
Rehearse with useful feedback.
This is where communication, active listening, shared leadership, and thoughtful response to questions become visible.Practice one Summit question
“What did the evidence change about your thinking?”
Ready for the Summit
A short final check.
Use this as a conversation, not another assignment.- Our story has one clear takeaway.
- Our claims connect to evidence.
- We explain what the evidence changed in our thinking.
- Every team member has a meaningful role.
- We practiced responding to one audience question.
- We chose one artifact that shows our civic leadership growth.
Optional student tool
Choose the evidence that tells the journey.
The Civic Leadership Evidence Trail helps students select a few meaningful artifacts and reflections from across the program before deciding what belongs in the final Summit set.
Summit artifact chute
Show where the team landed.
Uploads collected throughout the journey show the process. This final, summative set shows what the team learned, accomplished, and can now explain: the story frame or presentation, one strong piece of evidence, and the brief reflection about what changed in their thinking.
Use the same collection system. No duplicate work or separate research assignment is needed.At the district Summit
Share. Listen. Ask. Celebrate.
Each team tells its story, responds to genuine questions, learns from other teams in the district, and recognizes the civic leadership that grew along the way.