Through a partnership between the Connelly Foundation and Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia offers Catholic high school students, including those in Montgomery County, a chance to immerse themselves in American history and civic responsibility.

Studies have suggested U.S. students lack a strong civics education which focuses on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, writes Elena Perri for CatholicPhilly.

The Service Learning in Public Policy or SLiPP program was held this summer. The students in the program participated in service-learning opportunities, public policy courses and discussions, leadership development and communication classes.

The SLiPP is nonpartisan focusing on how students can take on leadership roles to help solve societal problems.

“A big piece of this is the ability to know how to interact with people who have different political points of view in a productive manner, which is the bedrock of a democratic society,” said Nancy Kurtz, the assistant superintendent for secondary schools in the Office of Catholic Education.

High school students from many archdiocesan schools attended the SLiPP program this summer, including Lansdale Catholic and Pope John Paul II.

Read more about the program on civic responsibility from Montgomery County students in CatholicPhilly.

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More on Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge.