Civics Education Spotlight: Peoria County Bar Association

The Peoria County Bar Association (“PBCA”) offers numerous programs and opportunities for civics education to high school students in the greater Peoria area, including its adopt-a-school program, job shadowing program, Law Day and the Peoria Legal Academy.

For its adopt-a-school program, the PCBA Public Relations Committee has established a relationship with Manual Academy in Peoria. As part of this relationship, the PCBA and its members have organized a variety of events for Manual students, including coordinating tours of the county courts and offices, providing PCBA members to act as “guest lecturers” in Manual’s government and history classes in connection with their current studies of the Constitution, the three branches of government, and state government, and providing the students an opportunity to participate in the PCBA’s job shadowing event. The Manual Academy Jazz Band also performs at the PCBA’s annual diversity luncheon in October.

This year the PCBA Public Relations Committee re-launched a job shadowing program, inviting local high school students and undergraduate students from Bradley University’s legal studies program to share in the day-to-day experiences of local attorneys. On April 6, 2017, approximately 25 students spent the morning with an attorney “host” to discuss the legal career path and observe some of the attorney’s daily activities. Many of the students had the opportunity to accompany their host attorney to court, and to speak with the presiding judges following the conclusion of the morning’s proceedings. The students were then given a tour of the Peoria County Courthouse and invited to have lunch with some of the Peoria County Judges. After lunch, the entire group was invited to observe pre-trial proceedings in one of the felony courtrooms.

Law Day is an annual program put on by the PCBA’s Young Lawyers Committee. During the month of May attorneys volunteer to speak to schools in the greater Peoria area about a topic selected by the American Bar Association; this year’s topic is the 14th Amendment. Students are also encouraged to participate in an essay contest about the selected topic, and the winners are recognized at a luncheon with the PCBA and a guest speaker.

The Street Law program has been operated by Caterpillar’s Legal Services Division together with the PCBA’s Pro Bono Committee since 2009. The program teaches high school students basic legal curriculum over six separate sessions. Each session covers a different legal topic including criminal law, advertising, contracts, products liability, patents and employment discrimination.

This year, the PCBA’s Diversity Committee has launched the Peoria Legal Academy. The Academy is a program developed to encourage Peoria students to pursue a career in law and assist those students to return to jobs as lawyers in Peoria. Local attorneys will organize presentations and activities for academy members, as well as participate in a mentoring program that will follow an individual student from middle school until the student’s return to Peoria as a practicing attorney. The Diversity Committee also plans to help provide employment opportunities for the students in the legal field including summer jobs during undergraduate and law school, as well as ultimate employment as an attorney in Peoria after law school.

The ISBA Law Related Education Committee (“LRE”) commends the PCBA for its civics education programs. The LRE also offers civics education programs to students and adults alike. If you are interested in learning more about the programs the LRE has to offer please visit our website at <https://www.isba.org/teachers>. 