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Explore our experiential civics programs!
Since 1971, more than one million students and educators have participated in Close Up programs. Our mission is to inspire young people to find their unique voice and help them develop the skills and awareness they need to be engaged citizens for life.
Join us to make lasting memories as you interact with the people, places, and institutions that shape our nation, and discover how your voice can make an impact on American democracy.
We make elections relatable and teachable.
Are you looking to make the most of this exciting election season? Close Up is engaging youth nationwide through our Premier Election Series programs in Washington, our Navigating Challenging Election Issues at School professional development for educators, and our free Election Toolkit of nonpartisan classroom resources.
As a government teacher, it’s nice to have more resources…
for teaching media literacy and having students critically think about the information they receive.
I plan to introduce Close Up’s professional development to the teachers I work with…
and use this as a part of my school’s requirement that students take action on issues of local, national, and international importance.
Close Up brought me CLOSER to politics…
the entire notion no longer seemed obscure. I became very involved in politics on the local and national level.
I’m truly blown away by what Close Up’s been able to accomplish in the last two weeks during IMPACT 2020…
The material seems very high level, and my daughter’s been very motivated to participate every day. I wanted to be sure to commend the staff on providing such a great experience!