Revitalizing Civics-Making it REAL!! in Rhode Island

Article XII of the Rhode Island Constitution makes it clear that at the time Rhode Islanders were developing the Constitution over the yeas, they recognized that "The diffusion of knowledge" is "essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties" and obligated the General Assembly to support public schools and libraries.  As we've previously discussed, we completed a survey of the general population, including those who are governmental officials.  We found that when asked when the first and last time they read the Constitution, 98% of the populations answered "high school" and, further, when asked if they were familiar with the United States Constitution, the statistics were closely aligned.
Recently, Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice was interviewed https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QoqhouCIk98 and shred some of her views on civics education and ideas on how to make a difference.  Her findings regarding the state of civics education in the United States were stunning and support the findings of our project.   At one point, she used the term "pathetic" when describing the lack of knowledge of our citizens regarding civics.  The great thing, though, is that while she sees the problem, she has picked up a shovel and taken an initiative to reach out to children on their terms, rather than her own.  She is hopeful and inspires us to move forward and share our civics journey, making it real here in Rhode Island where our motto is "HOPE" and charity begins at home.  We hope you'll join us on our journey.  HOPE springs eternal!