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Calling Middle Grades Educators: Become an ACE Fellow

To honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States, North Carolina State University is hosting a professional learning program for middle school teachers called Dissent and Deliberation: Tracing the Legacy of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This program consists of a weeklong summer seminar and a year-long professional learning program focused on facilitating meaningful classroom discussions about civic engagement, dissent, and deliberation.

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Join 25 NC teachers as an Advancing Civic Engagement (ACE) Fellow in the Summer 2026 cohort!

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Program Details

  • Weeklong summer institute from July 13-17, 2026, at NC State University in Raleigh*
  • Monthly online cohort meetings during the 2026-2027 school year
  • Compensation: $2,000 stipend ($1,000 after the weeklong summer seminar and $1,000 after the community of practice (CoP) monthly meetings).

*The program has limited funding for educators who might need hotel accommodations in Raleigh. 

What You’ll Do

  • Participate in an intellectually rich, collaborative, week-long summer seminar led by NC State faculty focusing on civic ideals, American democracy, and its global legacy followed by engagement in a monthly Community of Practice.
  • Practice with evidence-based, developmentally-appropriate discussion strategies for middle school students, including Structured Academic Controversy, Drama of the Commons, Tug of War, Socratic Seminar, and Debate.
  • Experiment with curricular tools aligned with NC standards for grades 6-9 with an emphasis on social studies and English language arts.

What You’ll Get

  • Year-round collaborative support through monthly online Communities of Practice meetings where you’ll share successes, troubleshoot challenges, and co-create lessons with peers and NC State faculty.
  • Targeted, sustained support hosting a community-wide Dining with Democracy event where students lead civil discussions on current issues with parents and community members.
  • Access to a comprehensive toolkit with free online resources, discussion protocols, primary source reading strategies, and event planning guides.

Future Events

Don’t live in central NC? We will be hosting two more rounds of ACE Fellows programs:

  • Summer 2027 in Western NC
  • Summer 2028 in Eastern NC