Civic Learning Award Presentations at Pasadena’s Willard Elementary

Willard Elementary, an International Baccalaureate school, hosted an award presentation on May 3, 2019, to celebrate its 2019 Civic Learning Learning Award of Distinction.

Willard Elementary, an International Baccalaureate school, hosted an award presentation on May 3, 2019, to celebrate its 2019 Civic Learning Learning Award of Distinction.

Co-sponsored by the California Supreme Court chief justice and the California state superintendent of public instruction, the Civic Learning Award celebrates public schools’ efforts to engage students in civic learning and identifies models that can be replicated in other schools. Willard is among six schools in California to earn the Award of Distinction this year.

The Civic Learning Award presentation featured special guests including Second District Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Lee Smalley Edmon, who presented the award, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek, Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Brian McDonald, and Board of Education members Elizabeth Pomeroy and Michelle Richardson Bailey.

Guests got a first-hand look at Willard Elementary’s International Baccalaureate program and had an opportunity to interact with students and teachers.

Pasadena Unified’s Marshall Fundamental received the program’s 2018 Award of Excellence.

The Civic Learning Awards are part of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s Civic Learning Initiative, a broad and far-reaching effort supported by statewide partners to improve civic learning and engagement in California. Among the initiative’s newest programs is “Judges in the Classroom,” a pilot effort in four counties to pair judges with local educators to teach students about the judicial branch.