Civic Education Workshop

Best of luck to all the 👏 NEW 👏 ALUMNI! 👏

It’s hard to believe that the 2023-24 exchange year is over! As and participants head back to their home countries, we can’t help but think back at all the beautiful moments and memories made. Thank you to everyone who made this year so incredible 😊


FLEX Program
Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
American Councils for International Education

participants sometimes have the opportunity to visit Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery here in Washington, D.C. Why does the U.S. have this tradition of presidential portraiture?

FLEX Program
Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
American Councils for International Education
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The Tradition of Presidential Portraiture, Explained The transition of office holders includes the official commissioning of the portrait of the outgoing First Lady and President

participants learn about great leaders during their time in Washington D.C. including George Washington. But have you heard of these lesser known facts about George Washington?

FLEX Program
Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
State Department for Tourism - Kenya
American Councils for International Education
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Five Unexpected Facts About George Washington Explore the lesser-known details of the founder’s childhood, home life, and career and gain a deeper understanding of his contributions to the United States.

“[The Civic Education Workshop] has been my best week since I came to the US. The YES alumni inspired me when I have a dream of something and if work hard on it, I can achieve it. One thing I learned from the week is that a good leader must have good listening skills so that he/she can provide a positive reaction and a positive message. And I learned that being a leader is not only you are chosen by the people but also you are taking the responsibility to make sure that you are reaching the goal that the people have trust in you.” - YES CEW '24 Participant

📸: Kendra from the U.S. Department of State

Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
American Councils for International Education

Fascinating article! participants discuss monuments and memorials during the Civic Education Workshop. What do you think? What is the purpose of a monument or memorial? What kinds of monuments do you have in your home countries?

Take a Closer Look at a Surprising New Sculpture That Rethinks Who We Put on a Pedestal Korean artist Do Ho Suh’s “Public Figures” makes a grand arrival outside the National Museum of Asian Art

“Wonderful week. Thank you so much CEW. I can’t believe that we actually met with senators, visited an NBA game, the US capitol, museums, American Councils, the US Department of State, made grassroots projects, made a speech, visited US presidents' memorials, even represented our state Georgia to the US senators and the US Department of State! That is unbelievable and a great honor for me. When I was walking in the hall in the US Senate with documents and my costume heading to my meetings I was just so grateful for this opportunity in my life and for everything that is going on. Life is so crazy, epic, wonderful, and magical! I met wonderful people from 22 countries during this time! Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and even more, I can’t even count. Our perspectives, plans, and goals changed. Our future became clear and new paths and possibilities appeared. My life changed a lot during this week. I understood that nothing is impossible! Thank you 💓” - Amina, February CEW FLEX participant '24

Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
FLEX Program
American Councils for International Education

Continuing to celebrate with gratitude for all of our instructors! Share your favorite memory with a CEW instructor in the comments 😊

Thanks for capturing these great moments Erblina from American Councils for International Education Kosova 🌟

Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
American Councils for International Education

It’s next week and we take a moment to celebrate our AMAZING instructors! One participant writes, “[One] thing that inspired me were the staff members. The staff worked really hard to make sure that our week was successful and best of us. I liked the way they organized us and teaching us different skills of being a good leader. They also made me to realize who I want to be when I finish my high school and college and also they showed me how can I achieve my goals through the grassroots level.” -Abubakar CEW '24

Thank you for all you do and what you mean to us!

Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

“[During the Civic Education Workshop] we learned a lot about leadership skills and how to use them. We visited many monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, and museums, like the Museum of African-American History. I had the chance to meet 4 staff members of the Oregon Senators and the 1st district Representative. It was a great experience and I got helpful information about leadership skills, but also about the work as a staff member. All in all, was it an amazing week and I learned many different new things!”

-German CBYX participant hosted in Oregon shares highlights from
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

“Wonderful week. Thank you so much CEW. I can’t believe that we actually met with senators, visited NBA game, US capitol, museums, American Councils, US Department of State, made grassroots projects, made a speech, visited US presidents memorials, we even represented our state Georgia to the US senators and the US department of state! That is unbelievable and a great honor for me. When I was walking in the hall in the US senate with documents and my costume heading to my meetings I was just so grateful for this opportunity in my life and for everything that is going on. Life is so crazy, epic, wonderful and magical! I met wonderful people from 22 countries during this time! Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and even more, I can’t even count. Our perspectives, plans, goals changed. Our future became clear and new paths and possibilities appeared. My life changed a lot during this week. I understood that nothing is impossible! Thank you 💓” - Participant '24

FLEX Program
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

“I want to thank you for making Civic Education Workshop possible for is because it has opened my eyes so much and made me switch my dream career to international relations.” - CEW Participant '24

FLEX Program
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State
American Councils for International Education

It's World Book Day! Did you know U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin invented the modern library? 👀

How Ben Franklin Invented the Library as We Know It Books were rare and expensive in colonial America, but the founding father had an idea

“It's hard for me to put into words the [Civic Education Workshop] and everything that has happened... I am incredibly grateful for the time I have spent at CEW, meeting senators and representatives in Washington DC, being an ambassador for my country at such a young age, and exchanging cultures with nearly 40 countries all over the world. I am so proud of everyone for coming all the way here.

To the YES CEW staff: you guys are amazing. Thank you for appreciating our work and making all of this possible. We are a hundred percent confident that we can make the world a better place for future generations. A world where love and peace are important, and our only worry is if we are going to find Russell or The Longworth Building for our next meeting. Thank you all, especially Workshop 2, with our leader, Sean!” .k



Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State American Councils for International Education

Favorite moment from ? It's hard to choose! '24 participant shares,

“It is so hard to pick one particular [favorite] moment from CivEd Week, because all of them were amazing in different ways. However the one that will forever live in my heart is NBA game. I am not a basketball fan myself, to be honest I know nothing about it, but going to the game, watching players play, people cheer and everyone being so engaged was something different. The atmosphere, the laughs, the cheers, food, music, everything about it was just unforgettable. It was probably the best week In my life so far, never knew that I can learn so many new things in just 6 days, but it made me realize that nothing is impossible!! Thank you for this opportunity, I’m so grateful to be part of the big FLEX family❤️”

FLEX Program Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State American Councils for International Education

Repost! '23 alum Abdul shared what he learned from the Civic Education Workshop with other young leaders in his home community of Zanzibar! He says,
“Empowering the next generation of leaders to dream big, work hard, and inspire change. 🚀 Leadership is not about titles; it’s about the positive impact we create. Let’s embark on this extraordinary journey together! 💪 I was invited today at a student government meeting from J.P.M Secondary school and Kiembe Samaki Islamic to give them advice about leadership and talk about my experience from the and also how I was a young president ”


Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
American Councils for International Education
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

⚠️ Attention all 2024 Participants! ⚠️ Don't forget to submit your media with captions by Monday, April 15th! Good luck!

Youth Exchange and Study (YES)

Repost from Civic Education Workshop participant Aref 🙌

“Building bridges between countries. This is diplomacy's approach to entering into dialogue. Every year, around 350 students and young professionals from the US go to Germany and from Germany to the US. The unique CBYX, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program, which incidentally is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, describes the strong relationship between Germany and the USA. With approximately 26,000 alumni, the program is a unique program in the transatlantic relationship between Germany and the United States. Thank you Civic Education Workshop for giving us the opportunity to have a deep insight into diplomacy, leadership and the importance of exchange.”

CBYX
Exchange Programs - U.S. Department of State

How we feel when we think about all 8 Civic Education Workshops this season ☺️

might be over, but the memories stay forever 💫

What was your favorite memory?

Photo: *ti
.program .global .global.alumni

It was a busy day on today! students participating in the Civic Education Workshop met with their host families' congressional offices sharing their experiences being and asking lots of questions about working in Congress!

Thank you to the members of Congress and their staff for meeting with these !

The Civic Education Workshop is a program of the U.S. Department of State and is administered by American Councils.
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Today, the March participants heard from Hannah Hurlbut on

They learned about distinguishing facts from opinion, the difference between misinformation and disinformation, and had a discussion on free speech.

Thank you .medialiteracy for an informative seminar!

Photo cred: *ti

The Civic Education Workshop is a program of the U.S. Department of State and is administered by American Councils.
program .global

The March Civic Education Workshop is off to a blooming start! .program participants come from all over the world for leadership workshops, seminars, and the chance to learn from one another!
Welcome to Washington DC 🌸

The Civic Education Workshop is a program of the IS Department of State administered by American Councils.
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Today begins the March Civic Education Workshop! We're so excited to begin a week of seminars, workshops, and visiting iconic places around Washington DC! And to help document and share this experience, we have 7 Social Media Specialists! Check out their bios in stories and follow throughout the week 🙌

"[During ]the presentation on Disinformation and Misinformation, we learned how to identify disinformation types and how to prevent getting deceived. Also we had so much fun too!" - Yesugen, FLEX '24 participant

Thank you for sharing and thank you .medialiteracy for the presentation today!
global

Happy International Women's Day! Can you name the pictured women and why they are considered leaders? Bonus points if you can name the location of their statues in the Washington D.C. area!

Youth Exchange and Study (YES) FLEX Program US Dos American Councils for International Education

Meet the March Social Media Specialists for the Civic Education Workshop by checking out their bios in stories! We are so excited to have these digital storytellers share their experiences during
See you in Washington DC soon!



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