Social Studies teacher Dave Keller won the “Civics is ____ ” award from the national ‘We are Teachers’ association for his ‘There Ought to Be a Law’ Civics project.

Keller was one of three winners. He received $1500, a free trip to St. Louis, and the opportunity to make a presentation to teachers all over the country at the National Conference for Social Studies.

Keller first found out about the contest from District Data Manager and PHS parent Maureen Rhodin, who heard about the project at Back-to School night last year.

The ‘There ought to be a law’ project involves student participation in state government, so that students can get a better sense of how the government works. Students must write a law, and discuss and edit it. The whole class then votes on the laws the same way that assemblymen in Sacramento do, a process that takes about two to three weeks. Laws that are voted for are presented to the state assemblyman for Piedmont’s district.

“When I first started working here four years ago, there was a project that Kitchens did,” Keller said. “I was kind of intrigued by this project so I took it and I taught it in the law and society class, and then in the Civics class.”

Representatives from the PUSD School Board also come into classes to provide feedback.

The first year Keller did the project, he brought his class to Sacramento to present the idea to the 16th Assembly District Representative Sandre Swanson, who was impressed with the project, Keller said.

“We pitched the bills to Swanson,” Keller said. “Swanson was impressed, gave us some feedback, thanked us, and sent us on our way, and that was it.”

A few weeks later, Keller got a letter from Swanson saying he liked the project so much that he wanted to do it next year. Former PHS student Angelica Kong’s bill, which was about increased recycling on high school campuses, was chosen by Swanson to be taken to the assembly. Kong went to the Capitol and testified, and her bill became law.

“For seniors, the project may seem like a speed bump on the way to graduating, but it does a good job of re-enacting the law passing process and is very interesting to participate in,” PHS graduate Hayley Parry said.

Now that Swanson’s term has ended, the 16th Assembly District Representative is Nancy Skinner, who said she is just as enthusiastic about the project.

Rhodin said she was particularly impressed with the project because it requires students to be involved and to do their civic duty.

“You can read it in a book, but it means more to dip your feet in an do it yourself,” Rhodin said.

The application process for the award involved a brief history and description of the project.

“I thought ‘yeah right’ it’s this national contest, but I looked at the application form and it was really short, so I thought what the heck,” Keller said. “So I hammered out the application and didn’t think about it at all.”

A few weeks later, Keller unexpectedly got a letter saying that he had won.

“I was thrilled, I’m still thrilled,” he said.

Rhodin said she was shocked when she found out Keller won, and that it made her feel great.

“When I find out something has blossomed into something amazing it makes me feel great,” she said. “It makes me feel like the work is worth it.”

She said she believes that a lot of what Piedmont teachers do are national level quality.

At the conference, which was held Nov. 21-24, he met icons such as Mary Beth Tinker, known for wearing a black armband to school in protest of the Vietnam War, and winning her case in the Supreme Court. Other figures included Anthony Chavez and Karen Korematsu.

“I talked about how to take lessons and connect them to larger political action,” he said.

Of all the presentations, Keller said one of his favorite was on the anniversary of John F. Kennedy.

“The conference draws people making history and people teaching history to the same place,” he said.