Let's use current events
to shape critical thinkers

At Civil, we believe exploring complex issues offers an opportunity for students to become more confident, empathetic, and informed.

That's why we're helping educators cut through media bias, partisan narratives, and information overload, bridging the divide between news and the classroom.

We prepare students for...

Empathy and understanding

We believe that compromise and progress are a result of understanding. By understanding factors that influence an individual's opinions - such as environment, education, and vocation - we can become informed, active citizens.

Critical and investigative thinking

It's easy to trust the first story you read, especially if it confirms an existing opinion. Instead, we believe in equipping students with the skills to dig deeper for data and opinions that support or challenge their existing views.

Diverse information consumption

Students should be exposed to a diverse set of opinions and follow the logic that supports them. By reducing information asymmetry, we can seek compromise as informed citizens.

How Civil supports teachers

Limited time, competing viewpoints, and a lack of curated resources make it difficult to explore modern topics with students. Civil's news coverage and ready-to-use materials enable teachers to:

  • Start class with the news your students are talking about
  • Discuss polarizing issues with confidence
  • Reduce prep time with pre-made lessons that keep up with current events

How Civil supports students

We believe schools are the perfect environment to exchange views about important issues in our complex and biased world. Civil's mission is to promote:

  • Critical thinking about media bias and partisanship
  • Tolerance and empathy towards different ideas
  • Students who are passionate and informed on modern topics

Our content creation process

1

Identify Divisive Topics

We find divisive, complicated issues that students are talking about.
2
Aggregate important information
Then, we research what's happening and how it's being spun from sources across the political spectrum.
3
Synthesize key findings
After that, we filter through research findings to create a condensed, comprehensive report.
4
Peer-edit for bias
Finally, our content specialists from the Left and Right check each other's work for unconscious bias before publishing.

Meet our team

Content Intern

Teddy Frank

Strategic Advisor

Devesh Modi

COO

Kevin Lenthe

Content Specialist

Jonathan Good

Content Intern

Sydney Hilbush

Web Developer

Kevin Gerstner

Content Specialist

Stephen Webber

Content Specialist

Rachel Zelicof

Editorial Advisor

Mari Billings

Founder & CEO

Max Tendero

Content Specialist

Hannah Ross

How we got here

For nine months, we ran a weekly newsletter that broke down the biggest political story of the week from the Left and Right. Our goal was to lessen the information asymmetry and incivility created by biased media outlets.
‍
In the Spring of 2021, high school teachers told us they were using our newsletter in class every week as a basis for civil discussions on current events.

That was it: instead of focusing on adults who may already be set in their ways, why not use current events to prepare students for our hyperpolarized world? We interviewed over 50 social studies teachers and kept hearing the same thing. "I want to prepare my students to be informed citizens and critical thinkers. The problem is that I don't have the time to do the research needed to navigate complicated current events." Over six months later, we’ve built a platform that empowers teachers to do just that.