WCCUSD high school seniors can now earn a state seal of civic engagement through a new district initiative that recognizes their efforts to improve their community.
The seal, a formal recognition awarded to California public school students, highlights achievement in civics education and community involvement. It appears on transcripts and diplomas and can strengthen college and scholarship applications.
This spring, WCCUSD will award seals to its first cohort.
“It’s an acknowledgement of hard work and skill. It shows that students have gone above and beyond and really that they care about their community, and our students really do care,” Summer Sigler, associate superintendent for K-12 school operations, told Richmondside. “We know there’s a set of requirements to get into college or graduate high school, but what sets students apart are the things they did after they met the baseline requirement. And this is one of those things.”
The program asks students to identify a community issue, research it and take meaningful, community-driven action to address it. It asks students to take what they have learned about local, state or federal government and apply it in the real world.
Through that process students are expected to develop stronger critical thinking, public speaking, research and collaboration skills. They can also create lasting relationships with local organizations, institutions or leaders and build a network that outlasts high school.
And in addition to the skill set and experience earned, receiving a state seal sets students apart when it comes to college or scholarship applications.
The school board approved the plan on March 25. Trustee Leslie Reckler said the district should encourage students to volunteer for local elections by including activities like being a poll worker as qualifying them for the seal.
“I’m just thrilled to see this,” Reckler said, noting that the potential for increased voter participation is what excited her most about the program. “My heart is full.”
WCCUSD’s program is inspired by UC Berkeley’s Y-Plan high school program, which challenges students to respond to real-world questions posed by community clients by conducting research and proposing solutions.
Students can qualify for the state seal if they participate in existing Y-plan programs. There are currently 10 across WCCUSD, according to Sigler.
Students take on city’s illegal tobacco problem
Courtesy city of Richmond
At Richmond High School, students have already taken on that kind of work through a Y-plan. Partnering with Contra Costa Health Services and the American Cancer Society, students were asked how to reduce tobacco use among Richmond youths.
Students investigated the city’s Tobacco Retail Policy, local licensing data and inspection findings from the Community Development Department and the county’s health department and found that there were many unlicensed retailers selling illegal flavored and unstamped tobacco products to youths.
“They didn’t just study this issue. They conducted real research, they analyzed the local data, they looked at existing tobacco policies,” said Jessica Petrilli, WCCUSD director of college and career. “They even gathered survey data from other students.”
From there, the Richmond High health students developed actual policy recommendations and presented their findings to the Richmond City Council on Feb. 24.
“And what’s really powerful is that their work had a real outcome, and the council voted 6-to-0 in favor of (strengthening its) tobacco retail license ordinance,” Petrilli added.
The city council later adopted an amended Tobacco Retailer License Ordinance, effective April 3, strengthening regulations by capping the number of licenses at 50, banning flavored tobacco and requiring annual inspections.
Another example of a civic engagement project that could earn the state seal was a challenge to students offered by Superintendent Cheryl Cotton: How can WCCUSD actually move from policy to implementing its 2024 Anti-Racism Policy in 2026?
Students in the All Student Congress, a districtwide group of student leaders, said that despite a no-tolerance policy districtwide, many of their peers said they have experienced racism, either in the form of a “joke” from other students or as perceived bias from peers and educators. They also said that the district is inconsistent and not transparent in its responses to racism.
So students have designed surveys, interviews, and student-led small group summits to gather data on ways to reduce racism across the district. Student trustee Devin Witten said he has learned so much from the process, especially how to ask questions with intent.
“The most exciting part is getting the data and working toward improvement by using this data,” Witten said. “Having hard conversations will help us as a board figure out what we need to do in order to make our schools’ children feel safe and feel comfortable.”
State seal application is available to all seniors
The California program was implemented in 2020 to encourage civic education and leadership. In its first year, about 5,000 students across the state were awarded the seal, according to a UC Berkeley study.
Several school districts and counties have implemented their own processes to help students get the state seal. Without a program like this at the district or county level, students cannot apply.
Each entity creates their own qualifications but are generally pretty similar. At WCCUSD students must: Maintain a 2.5 GPA during their upperclassmen years; show competence in social sciences (examples include getting a good grade in a class, becoming a member of a local government committee, volunteering as a poll worker, or making a comment at a public meeting); and participate in Y-plan or N equivalent project that involves research and is solution-oriented.
If a student meets all three requirements, they then must write an essay reflecting upon their work and goals and get a letter of recommendation from a teacher or community member.
Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds asked the district to make sure the program was flexible enough so students with varying or special needs could also qualify. For example, students who struggle to write a reflection essay can submit a video essay instead.
Teachers who are supporting a Y-plan or similar project in their class are also instructed to offer accommodations for students doing that work even outside of the classroom.
“Another way (we are being accommodating) is really thinking about the flexibility of the GPA requirement,” Sigler said, noting that students who don’t meet the 2.5 GPA requirement may be granted exceptions based on circumstances. “For example, Greenwood Academy, our continuation school, does phenomenal community-based work, but we want to honor their accomplishments while they’re there, not punish them for (low academic performance) in the past.”
The applications opened this month. Seniors have until May 8 to apply and will receive their awards when they get their official diplomas after graduation.
Disclosure: Students at Richmond High are consulting with Richmondside and other media outlets as they research ways to make news more accessible to youths, one of the Y-Plan projects.
