Imagine: jawboning with delegates in the Pennsylvania Statehouse as a hush suddenly comes over the floor—Benjamin Franklin has risen to address the Constitutional Convention. Thanks to support from your school as well as generous assistance from foundations and private donors, your student has embarked, or will soon,  on a three-week learning adventure. For one hour each day, they will immerse themselves in Revolutionary America as they study, co-write, stage and perform  a SPIRIT SERIES one-act celebration of the civic values that forged our nation:

The Founding

Our non-profit organization, founded by a concerned parent in 2001, seeks to empower young people to become successful, civic-minded adults. Over 70,000 students have now met the SPIRIT SERIES challenge and the program has been acclaimed by the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and over a thousand educators from California to Maine. Designed to engage and inspire your student, this drama-based history curriculum promotes civic literacy, higher-order thinking, positive core values, presentation skills, teamwork, character and self-esteem.

You can contribute to the success of this project with your engagement and support. In the next weeks, your student may bring home a writing assignment, journals, and a craft project. If so, please feel free to assist them in completing these important tasks. You may also want to read the “The Founding” online and spark a conversation with the Family Conversation Guide you’ll find there. This transformative drama-based project promises to awaken an appreciation in your student for the civic birthright many young people take for granted: democracy. Thank you, in advance, for your active participation.

Hope to see you at the show!

— Your SPIRIT SERIES Staff