From Confusion to Civic Power: Thinking About How We Teach About Our Government
MDI Historical Society and Northeast Harbor Library Explore Civics Education in Maine
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The 1932 Criterion Theatre.
MOUNT DESERT—Back in 2024, a study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center reported that 65 percent of Americans could name three branches of the federal government: the legislative (makes the laws), executive (enforces laws, foreign policy, commander in chief of the military), and judicial (interprets laws, resolves legal disputes).
A lot of Americans can’t name one branch of the government—approximately 15 percent.
A lot of American’s also can’t name their rights granted under the U.S. Constitution; most could only name the freedom of speech (the first amendment).
Just over half of the Americans surveyed in 2024 knew what party controlled the Senate and which had a majority in the House of Representatives.
The National Association of Education found that nationally only 25 percent of students met the testing standards when it came to understanding government.
“It is worrisome that one in six U.S. adults cannot name any of the branches of government and that only one in 20 can name all five freedoms protected by the First Amendment,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and director of a 2023 survey at the time. “One is unlikely to cherish or work to protect freedoms one does not know one has and will have trouble holding elected and unelected leaders accountable if one does not understand the nature and prerogatives of each branch and the ways in which the power of each is kept in check.”
Then there is how local governments work: town meetings, select boards, councils, minutes, what is public comment, what is public hearing, how your angry email to a town official is actually public information that everyone can see; it’s all about civics.
Americans not having this knowledge worries some politicians, teachers, and others.
“For nearly 250 years, the Constitution has guided America’s system of government and defined our national ideals,” said Maine Senator Angus King (I) when introducing bipartisan legislation to support civics education back in 2023. “But for all of the Framers’ careful work, the continued success of our American experiment is by no means guaranteed. It is the responsibility of each successive generation to carry the mantle of American civic life forward – and to accomplish that, our future leaders must understand our shared past. By expanding civic education and ensuring that our students fully engage with the national values that define us, we can help them gain the knowledge they need to carry on the work of so many before them: striving to build a more perfect union.”
On Mount Desert Island, people not only have a chance to participate in local government, they also have an opportunity to learn more about civic education.
On Wednesday, September 10, at 5:30 p.m., at the Northeast Harbor Library, civics educator and consultant Dan Sigward, MDI Historical Society intern and researcher Sabrina Calas, and Pathways to Restorative Communities’ Rebecca Taplin, bring their expertise to participants in a highly interactive session.
The goal is to share insights on the current state of civic education in the United States and trends.
Northeast Harbor Library and the Mount Desert Island Historical Society have collaborated to hold the program.
It comes less than a week after the state has launched a civics-oriented, school-based initiative.
On Friday, September 5, 2025, the Maine Department of Education and Maine DOE and Secretary of State launched ‘Civics on the Road’ a traveling educational initiative, which is meant to engage students in hands-on civic learning.
It will begin September 17 and visit one school a month.
“This program provides students with an opportunity to participate in the debates, decisions, and responsibilities that shape our democracy. Learners rotate through interactive, interdisciplinary stations, ranging from mock debates and government games to primary source analysis, media literacy, and voting simulations,” according to the DOE.
THE BAR HARBOR STORY Q AND A WITH SABRINA CALAS.
We had a quick question and answer with Sabrina Calas, the intern that helped Mount Desert Historical Society with its research and the upcoming program.
Thanks so much for talking with me, Sabrina! Can you tell me a bit about what made you intrigued about civics education?
As I pursued a degree in political science during undergrad., I think that's when the importance of civics education became more apparent to me, which then subsequently piqued my interest. Specifically, as I studied what would be considered American political thought/theory and the seminal interlocutors within that conversation, the emphasis on civics education would be a recurring one, as all early political thinkers largely agreed on the necessity of a comprehensive civics education in creating well-informed, engaged, and animated democratic citizens. After college, my experience interning at the MDI Historical Society would transform this interest in civics from a national to a local one, as I became deeply interested in the civic institutions, actors, and educational opportunities present within our island community and Maine's greater political landscape.
How would you define it?
I would define civics education as the constellation of educational materials, formal pedagogy, and applied learning opportunities designed to increase students knowledge of U.S. and world history, to create familiarity with the foundations of democracy and other forms of governance, and to cultivate the virtues and attitudes requisite to civic engagement including a sense of civic duty, self-efficacy, and collectivism.
Did you delve into it a lot during your internship at MDI Historical Society?
My whole internship essentially revolved around civics education, as the onus of my eight weeks of work would be to meet with educators, administrators, and other civic actors to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement within civics education on MDI. However, my internship would also offer me a more holistic understanding of civics education than I initially entered the project with, specifically in placing community engagement and service learning on par with formal learning and structured pedagogy when it comes to cultivating civic engagement among young learners.
Where do you go to school? Apologies for not knowing!
I recently graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in Political Science.
Congratulations! I was a political science major, too. Can you give our readers a couple thoughts about the importance of civics education and how it’s being taught in Maine?
When considering content, continuity, and standards and assessment structures, my conversations with educators and administrators would reveal some significant disparities in Maine state civics education, specifically within the absence of standardized testing, the lack of transparency and continuity in curricula among respective MDIRSS schools, and difficulties in resourcing and teaching time experienced by educators.
However, as aforementioned, my internship would also illuminate a dimension of civic engagement which is alive and well on MDI, that being the presence of young learners within their communities, as many middle- and high-schoolers would be responsible for spearheading various community initiatives, for creating civil rights teams and other civic organizations, and for critically engaging with their peers in creating effective solutions for local challenges.
This latter point is what I would emphasize to readers as being the true essence of civic engagement, as while formal learning and education equips students with the knowledge and vocabulary to participate effectively in democracy, learning must transcend the classroom and encourage students to become generous, informed, and reciprocal members of their local, national, and international communities.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Maine Department of Education’s standards and instructions for civics.
Mount Desert Island Historical Society
Schools that are interested in hosting Civics on the Road can fill out this form or contact Geoffrey Wingard at Geoffrey.Wingard@maine.gov for more information.
DETAILS ABOUT WEDNESDAY’S EVENT
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
5:30 PM 7:00 PM
Northeast Harbor Library
1 Joy RoadMount Desert, ME, 04662 (map)
Follow us on Facebook or BlueSky or Instagram. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
Bar Harbor Story is a mostly self-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you for being here with us and caring about our community, too!
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story or Acadia Adventures, you can! Learn more here.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR COMMUNITY