New government videos for Ohio high schools

Greene County News

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine recently introduced a free new educational tool for Ohio government classes – a series of five new videos on topics including state public policy and citizen engagement.

The videos were produced by Attorney General DeWine’s office with the help of current and former state officeholders.

“Engaging students at a young age will show them how they can shape public policy,” Attorney General DeWine said. “We created these videos to spark their thinking and enhance their knowledge of government.”

The topics for the videos were identified by a panel of Ohio high school teachers and align with state standards. They include: state public policy, civic engagement, Ohio constitution, bill of rights, and U.S. constitution

The videos include appearances from a number of state officeholders, including Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith L. French, State Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights), State Sen. Frank LaRose (R-Hudson), State Rep. Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus), State Rep. Mike Duffey (R-Worthington), and former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery.

Covered in the videos are several topics, including how public policy is made, the process of a bill becoming a law, the different branches of Ohio government, the importance of voting, communicating with elected officials, and the history of Ohio’s two constitutions.

“As a teacher I’m always looking for these types of supplemental resources to reach students in a medium that they’re familiar and comfortable with,” said Mr. Andrew Hollis, Marion-Franklin High School, Social Studies Department. “The succinctness of these videos, the ability of these videos to hold the attention of the students, and the correlation of these videos to the state standards all make these incredibly valuable tools in the classroom. Tools that I plan to use often. I’m already working these videos into my lesson planning for both my U.S. Government and U.S. History classes. On behalf of teachers everywhere I thank the Attorney General and his office for creating these resources.”

The videos are available on the Ohio Attorney General’s website at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/CivicVideos, and schools also may request a DVD containing the videos.

The new videos are just one of the programs the Ohio Attorney General’s Office provides for Ohio high school students. Other programs include:

Ohio Attorney General’s Teen Ambassador Board, which is open to Ohio high school juniors and seniors, and

Ohio Attorney General’s Take Action Video Contest, which gives Ohio high school students a chance to earn college scholarships by creating a consumer protection video.

Story courtesy of Ohio Attorney General’s office.