CIVICs 250 Scholars

What is CIVICs 250 Scholars?

Through funding by the Department of Education, the Democracy and Public Policy Network at Bowling Green State University is creating learning communities among K-12 educators across the region over the next three years focused on developing and strengthening American history and civics education. Each cohort will consist of approximately 35 teachers who will receive year-long training and gain expert insight from BGSU faculty to establish learning communities in their districts, culminating in a one-week summer seminar on campus to further hone their lessons and skills.

Through the learning communities, the Democracy and Public Policy Network will help Ohio's K-12 teachers develop lessons and resources focused on the nation's foundational principles, including the ideas, traditions and institutions essential to understanding American government and history. Teachings will focus on America's founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the anti-Federalist Papers, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, while also bringing in knowledge of lesser-known documents to broaded the scope of participating teacher's ability to educate their students.

We will be offering this program again during the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. If you are interested in applying for this program in the future years, please check back on this website soon. We will be releasing information about how you can apply for the upcoming year at the beginning of August, 2026.

Scholars Information

Scholar Requirements

Participating teachers will be required to attend monthly Virtual Meetings (dates to be announced) and complete short reading assignments throughout the school year. In early June, participating teachers will be required to attend in-person Seminar meetings to learn from BGSU faculty. These dates are required part of participation in the CIVICs 250 Scholars Program.

Scholar Benefits

• 6 CEU Credits (60 Contact Hours) from Bowling Green State University
• $500 Stipend and $100 travel stipend upon satisfactory completion of the program
• VIP Access to BGSU on-campus programming, including BGSU Day of Dialogue, Leadership Luncheon and others

Other Requirements

CIVICs 250 Scholars should prepare for each virtual meeting by completing any questionaires as well as a short amount of pre-reading materials. Participants should come ready to discuss questions and have collaborative conversations with colleagues about the discussion topics.

Throughout the Seminar week, participating teachers will also be preparing 3-5 lessons that will be used with their students during the 2026-2027 school year. These lessons should be based on material learned throughout their participation time, and teachers will be asked to follow up on these lessons several times during the school year following the year of their participation in the program. More guidance will be given to participants as the learning community begins. 

Application Process

We are not accepting applications for the 2026-2027 cohort at this time, but more information will be released soon.

We welcome teachers of any grade, content or ability level to apply. However, those who primarily teach Social Studies will recieve priority status if space becomes limited.

Any questions about the application or the program itself can be directed to our Program Manager, Kristin Schnerer. Her email is knschne@bgsu.edu.