Professor nominated for civic engagement award

A Kankakee Community College professor has been nominated for Campus Compact’s 2019 Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award.

Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 1,000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education, announced that Dr. Kristine Condon has been nominated for her design and delivery of the high school-focused Illinois Civics Academy for Teachers and its companion Illinois Civics Academy for Teachers Junior Edition for elementary and middle-school teachers.

“Meaningful civics education is returning to its rightful place in the classroom,” Condon said. “Kankakee Community College’s support of the Illinois Civics Academy for Teachers offers a professional development opportunity for our community’s educators as they teach and engage the next generation of civically literate students.”

Illinois Civics Academy for Teachers (ICAT) was designed, developed, and delivered by Condon after she saw a need to share professional development opportunities for civics educators which was geared toward Illinois-specific content. Financial support comes from the McCormick Foundation and the Illinois Judges Association.

The program was created as a 24-hour professional development curriculum for secondary education faculty. ICAT focuses on Illinois government, with topics related to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Resource materials and guidance have been provided by more than 20 subject matter experts.  ICAT also mapped each module to Illinois’ new civic education statute, the state’s new Social Studies Learning Standards, and the College/Career/Civic Life Framework.   
ICAT has been offered at KCC each summer since 2016. ICAT Junior was added in 2018 and 2019 with selected lessons for teachers of Kindergarten through eighth grade.

In all, nearly 50 teachers have participated in the training.

At KCC, Condon also coordinates the Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies program and teaches for the continuing education area.

The award is bestowed annually to recognize one faculty member and up to four finalists for exemplary leadership in advancing student civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal partnerships, building institutional commitments to engagement, and enhancing higher education’s contributions to the public good. The award is named in honor of Thomas Ehrlich, former chair of the Campus Compact board of directors and president emeritus of Indiana University, and is generously sponsored by the KPMG Foundation.