Strengthen civics and community development

Many members know little of the history of the community in which they serve. Oral history projects are an excellent way for members to interact with the people in their assigned community in a positive way. The following is a training agenda that gets members started.

Similarly, create a culture of civic engagement within your AmeriCorps team using oral history projects focused on the civil rights struggle. This training agenda first guides members through civil rights history and then focuses on how to conduct an oral history.

There are numerous websites available to learn more on oral history guidelines. Oral history projects provide an excellent opportunity for media involvement!

These training agendas were adapted from a contribution by AmeriCorps/East St. Louis (East St. Louis, IL), an AmeriCorps*State program that focuses on reading, language skills development for low achieving students in grades 1-6.