How civic institutions actually work — and how to tell what's real in a noisy feed. Twelve sessions, three age tracks, one rule that never moves: we teach method, not conclusions.
A kid who can spot a manufactured trend, a teen who can trace a claim to the document it came from, and an adult who can teach both — that is the whole objective. The skills transfer to every other room in the building.
Every claim has an origin. The lab trains the reflex of asking for it before believing, sharing, or arguing.
Local, state, federal — branches, processes, and the specific points where a citizen's voice actually enters.
Astroturfing, coordinated amplification, single-source virality. Engagement counts are not public opinion.
Each track ends by making something — a fact guide, a local explainer, a civic tool — not by taking a test.
Three tracks of four sessions, each roughly 60–75 minutes, mentor-led and run in order — every session builds on the one before it. Shared rules across all of them: ethics module first, age-appropriate materials, supervised throughout, two-adult rule wherever minors are present.
Information comes from somewhere, and sources are not all the same. Kids sort everyday claims by "who said it?" — a friend, a sign, a video, a book.
Takeaway"Before I believe it, I ask where it came from."
A game round of real headline versus made-up, then a discussion of the tells — all caps, "everyone says," no source anywhere. Junior-safe examples only.
Takeaway"Lots of loud posts isn't the same as true."
Basic civics through a mini class-vote on a genuinely fun question, then a conversation about rules, fairness, and taking turns.
Takeaway"Communities have rules so decisions are fair."
Pick a simple topic, find two trustworthy sources, build a one-page guide, and present it to the room.
Takeaway"I can make something true and useful."
Map local versus state versus federal, the branches, and where citizens plug in. Trace one real local decision from idea to outcome and mark the participation points.
Takeaway"I know where a citizen's voice actually enters the process."
Lateral reading and primary-source checking: take a viral claim, find the underlying document, and compare it against how it got reported.
Takeaway"I can follow a claim back to where it started."
Astroturfing, distraction, and manufactured trends at an age-appropriate level. Analyze anonymized examples for timing, sameness, and single-source virality.
Takeaway"Engagement counts aren't public opinion."
Apply all of it: build a short, non-partisan explainer or civic tool on a real local issue, then present it.
Takeaway"I can inform people without spinning them."
A working model of civic processes and how to engage constructively, built through a case walkthrough that maps the real participation levers.
Lateral reading, provenance, and judging evidence quality. The group fact-checks one genuinely complex claim together and documents the method as they go.
How influence operations shape a feed, drawn from the Know the Source explainer. Mechanics, defenses, and the line between skepticism and nihilism.
Run these sessions yourself. Practice-facilitate a junior or teen session and take feedback from a mentor.
TakeawayEducators leave able to deliver the Civics Lab.
The curriculum, the run sheets, and the print-and-go activity packs are public. An educator can take these and run the Civics Lab in their own classroom without attending — that is deliberate.
All twelve sessions with objectives, activities, tie-ins, and takeaways — plus the Ethics Lab equivalents.
Minute-by-minute worked run sheets for the sessions mentors find hardest to pace, plus summary sheets for the rest.
How Ethics, Cyber, and Civics interlock, the shared guardrails, and the pilot sequencing.
The junior activity pack behind session S2 — letter-sized, print-to-PDF, ready for a table of eight-year-olds.
The teen worksheet pack behind session S2 — claim, primary source, comparison, verdict.
The influence-operations explainer the adult track is built on. Background reading for mentors and parents.
Two faculty seats anchor this lab. Both are open, both are published with what they pay, and no name appears anywhere until a countersigned agreement is on file.
A scholar who can teach how institutions actually work to a room of teenagers and adults at once — and who teaches evaluation, not conclusions. Nonpartisan delivery is a condition of the seat.
An investigative journalist working on influence operations or information integrity, who can show an audience their actual method — sourcing, verification, retraction.
Fair questions, answered directly.
No. Sessions teach sourcing and evaluation. Junior civics is a class vote about a fun question, not a political one.
Screened, background-checked mentors under a two-adult rule at all times. The Juniors Room is supervised the entire day.
Age-filtered and anonymized. Junior sessions use junior-safe material only; nothing graphic, nothing about a live political fight.
Yes — every session outline and activity pack above is public. Read the whole thing before you decide.
The consent and privacy documents for minor participants are in the Pilot Kit, alongside the registration and waiver form.
The lab's cost is faculty honoraria and printed materials for every kid who walks in. Sponsorship covers that — and buys no say whatsoever in what the lab teaches.