Featuring curricular resources and programming with a focus on civic education

The Kennedy Library has a variety of structured programs for elementary, middle, and high school classes in a virtual setting. These offerings focus on multiple topics, including campaigns and elections, civil rights, leadership, document-based questions, the Cold War, why an archive?, and President Kennedy's life and presidency.

The 2021 American Studies Summer Institute will examine youth participation in US social movements from the late 19th century to the present and will focus on labor, anti-war, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, environmentalism, and gun control campaigns.

Join the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition for a series of morning, afternoon and evening events all across the Commonwealth that celebrate civic engagement, civic learning and civic leadership. Included will be over 50 events, all available digitally. In addition to General Audience events, there will be specialized tracks for students, parents, and educators.

Have you noticed a student at your school working on an exemplary and creative service project? Consider nominating them for the John F. Kennedy Make a Difference Award! Every year the Kennedy Library recognizes up to 100 middle school students from across Massachusetts for the impact they have made in their communities and beyond.

Enjoy a high-energy performance featuring exciting dances and soulful folk music that is highlighted with a variety of traditional instruments, authentic clothing, and lots of audience participation. Egyptian-American Karim Nagi introduces students to a captivating world beyond the headlines through Arab language, dance, and music. Everyone can clap along to unique rhythms and dances as they learn about these ancient cultural traditions and modern practices!

This program will be available to view from April 17-May 1, 2021.

On the 40th anniversary of President Kennedy's address to the nation on civil rights, journalist and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins, author of Jefferson's Pillow: America and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism and biographer Taylor Branch, author of Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, discussed Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, and the civil rights milestones of 1963 with former New York Times reporter Tom Wicker. In this landmark Forum, Branch contextualizes and highlights the introduction and impact of the children's campaign, and both Wilkins and Wicker share their recollections of the momentous civil rights events and turning points of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Teach students about civic engagement and democracy with this hands-on activity. Help them identify a cause they care about at the local, national, or global level. They can design, make and decorate a poster to support their chosen cause. Have students share their posters with each other in the classroom or digitally to learn more about their classmates' concerns and the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Learn about two applications from the Library of Congress that use primary sources to transport students to some of the most dramatic turning points in US history and immerse them in the related debates with the tools they need to investigate complex questions.