The auditorium was packed with students, teachers, local business representatives, city officials, school board members, the superintendent, state legislators, and a congressman. Most people wouldn’t expect to see 14 year olds take center stage to speak to government officials about substantive issues that concern them as citizens. However, these high school freshmen were poised and passionate to share their insights.  

PBL has an immense capacity to provide real world opportunities to develop literacy in students. Students who engage in authentic literacy experiences gain higher comprehension and writing skills compared to those who do not. In our new PBL pilot Pathways Program, in Williamsburg, Virginia, students worked on their literacy skills by inviting state and local government officials to school to hear them out on a variety of much debated political and environmental concerns. Students created videos that they submitted to the national Letters to the Next President campaign. This project, developed by the National Writing Project, empowers youth to take civic action before they reach voting age by writing to the president about the issues that matter to them the most.