Jamestown Public Schools Arts and Humanities Coordinator Christopher Scarpine addresses Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education members Tuesday about New York State Seal of Civic Readiness. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

When teaching, teachers try connecting lessons with their students’ lives.

When the connections happen, students embrace the material, and it becomes relevant and real.

This is what the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness is all about.

According to Jamestown Public Schools Arts and Humanities Coordinator Christopher Scarpine, “Civic readiness is the ability to make a positive difference in the public life of our communities through the combination of civic knowledge, skills and actions, mindsets, and experiences.”

Scarpine told Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education members Tuesday that district students now can add the seal to their transcripts and diplomas beginning this year.

“Whether you’re going into college, the trades military service or right into the workforce, having this seal on your high school transcripts tells an employer, tells a college admissions office, tells a recruiter that I’m a responsible contributor to my society, and this is what I’ve learned,” Scarpine added.

Scarpine said as a way to help students better understand the seal, he shows how it is real, relevant and connects to their lives. He referenced an example from D’Youville University. The example, he noted, was a biography of a student-athlete. The bio listed that the student-athlete had earned the New York State Seal of Civil Radiness.

To receive the seal, Scarpine noted, students must earn six points to qualify, and qualification is broken down into two categories: civic knowledge and civic participation. Two points must be earned in each category. The Civic knowledge category includes four credits of social studies worth 1 point; mastery level on social studies Regents exam worth 1.5 points; proficiency level on social studies Regents exam worth 1 point; advanced social studies course(s) worth .5 points; and a research project worth 1 point.

The Civic Participation category includes high school civic project worth 1.5 points; service-learning project, and reflective civic learning essay/presentation/product worth 1 point; earned credit in an elective course that promotes civic engagement worth .5 points; middle school capstone project worth 1 point; extra curricular participation or worked-based learning experience, and reflective essay/presentation/product worth .5 points; and a civic capstone project worth 4 points.

“This is wonderful,” Board Member John Panebianco said about the seal program.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker also had words of praise for the seal program.

“I’m glad to see that we have kids who are interested now, and we will be developing this program in the future, so that we can have more kids experience this and help their local communities.”