PUBLIC ACHIEVEMENT CORE ELEMENTS

Participant elements Youth choose to participate. Youth participate as teams of 6-8. Youth choose issues through a deliberative process. Issues are grounded in participants’ passions, values, and interests.

Participant elements Team actions are real work – they take place over time (several months or longer), involve many steps, and have identifiable results or products. Young people use evaluation to learn from experiences, including successes and failures. Teams meet formally at least once a week.

Work elements All work must be legal. All work must be non-violent. The work must contribute in some way to the public good.

Coach elements Coaches are guides and facilitators, not leaders, mentors, or directors. Coaches debrief their Public Achievement meetings together as a team. Coaches typically commit about 3-5 hours a week to PA work. Coaches discuss theory as well as practice.

Coach elements Coaches help teams to do their public work, learn from their tasks, and identify key concepts through their work (e.g. democracy, public work, and citizenship). Coaches participate in training sessions that involve skills, methods, site orientations, and theory. A coach coordinator supports and supervises the coaches’ work; creates an accountability structure; and works in partnership with the site coordinator.

Site elements Sites see Public Achievement as a way to implement or pursue core mission and values. Site coordinators integrate PA into the site culture; coordinate logistics; help teams continue their work all week; and make the work visible. Sites see themselves as leaders in Public Achievement and the emerging civic renewal movement to strengthen and invigorate democracy.

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