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LegiSchool Project
The LegiSchool Project is a civic education collaboration between California State University, Sacramento, and the California State Legislature, administered by the Center for California Studies. The Project’s mission is to engage California’s high school students in matters of public policy and state government by creating opportunities for students and state leaders to meet and share ideas on issues affecting Californians. In doing so, we hope to motivate young people to take an interest in the public life around them and to encourage their active participation in our political process.
Learn more about LegiSchool by reading the LegiSchool blog!
For the 2021-2022 school year, LegiSchool will continue to offer online programming. Our student-led Virtual Town Hall Meetings, Virtual Legislative Summit, sponsored contests and curriculum materials are all ways that students can learn to take initiative, be involved and connect to state government and public service. LegiSchool's curriculum materials in particular, are designed to provide a broad, easy-to-understand background on the complex issues faced by the state. The materials help students develop the basic knowledge needed to form educated, thoughtful opinions on the issues at hand.
Want to know more about this year's plan? Check out the 2022/23 Legischool Newsletter!
Want to get on our mailing lists about Town Halls, Contests, and Internship opportunities? Fill out our online form.
Town Hall Meetings
Teachers and students will be able to access our Virtual Town Hall Meetings and participate in our online Q&A panel discussions via Zoom Webinars. Our Virtual Town Hall Meetings will give students the chance to discuss important policy issues and will feature LegiSchool Civics Institute Alumni as our panel moderators. Registration for all Town Hall Meetings will open 1 month prior to event time.
2022-2023 Town Hall Meetings
Please click the link to view the meetings
- October 14, 2022: Voting in California
- December 9, 2022: Mental Health in Youth
- February 27, 2023: California's Social Inequity
- April 28, 2023: Environmental Justice - In person. Please contact Rotce Hernandez (rotcehernandez@csus.edu) for more information.
2021-2022 Town Hall Meetings
Please click on the link to view the meetings.
- October 20, 2021: Housing the Unhoused
- December 8, 2021: Pitfalls of Social Media
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May 27, 2022: Ethnic Studies in CA
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July 1, 2022: Climate Change in the Future of CA
Please click on the link to view the 2020-2021 Town Hall Meetings.
- October 14, 2020: Racial Disparities in California
- December 9, 2020: California's Response to COVID-19
- February 17, 2021: Cyber Security in the Digital Age
- April 21, 2021: California Financial Aid Reform
If you are an educator interested in registering your class to our Virtual Town Hall Meetings, please contact legischool@csus.edu for more information. Supplemental curriculum guides are offered for each Virtual Town Hall Meeting.

Contests
LegiSchool facilitates three contests each year that are available to California high school students. See below for date and topic information for each contest. If you have any questions, please email legischool@csus.edu.
PoliTik Toks
Bring awareness to an important California policy issue by creating a short-form video to inform others! Students can get creative by using comedy skits, dances, and more. Students can upload their 30-seconds-or-less video as a TikTok, Instagram Reel or YouTube Short. Prizes will be awarded to the winners. Tag both #PoliTikTok #LegiSchoolContest to enter for a chance to win!
Information available summer 2023
Essay Contest
New social media platforms continue to thrive and grow, and the age of internet consumers continues to decrease. What are the effects of social media on younger children? Should internet and social media be more controlled? Does a relationship between mental health and social media exist?
Information available summer 2023
California Through My Eyes Photo Contest
How do you envision California? What represents California to you? Poverty? Wealth? Technology? Farms? Water? Mountains? Towns? People? Cities? Cars? Hiking Trails? Family? Community? Landscapes?
These are just some of the images that students are invited to photograph for LegiSchool’s annual photo contest. The photo can be of a person, place or anything―big or small. The first place winner receives $100 and four runners-up receive $50 each. Open to all current high school students in California.
Deadline: May 26, 2023

2023 LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute
The LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute gives a select number of California high school students the unique opportunity to participate in an intensive 4-week online summer program that explores important policy issues in California and provides students the tools to develop leadership and professional skills. A stipend will be provided to the student at the completion of the summer program.
Students will learn about each of the three branches of government with an emphasis on public service and the political process. Activities include: online discussions to learn more about state agencies and the judicial branch, research projects focused on important California policy issues, and speaker sessions and professional workshops led by the branch experts themselves.
The LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute is an online summer internship program and is not a Sacramento State college course.
Who can apply?
Applicants must be enrolled as a sophomore, junior or senior at any California high school for the 2022-23 school year.Participation Requirements
Participants must have reliable internet access and have access to a computer and webcam for online webinars and presentations and be willing to commit to the entirety of the program.
Interviews
Invitations to interview will be extended to a limited number of applicants. Interviews will take place via Zoom in May/June 2023.
Application Deadline: June 7, 2023