using my logo

Missouri Youth Engaged in Local Government

In social studies, most everyone learns that there are three branches of government.  In addition, a basic concept is that there are three levels of government—Federal, State, and Local.  Unfortunately, across America, many schools, for various reasons, do not teach about local government.  Yet no level affects citizens more directly than that of local government.  Local governments provide citizens with essential services, such as police and fire protection, good streets and roads, libraries, schools, parks, and much, much more.

Our goal is two-fold. One is that students learn about local government and the second is that students discover the importance of actively participating in their communities.  Ideally, we want the "textbook to come alive" and demonstrate how important it is to have informed, active citizen participation.

MY LOGO is a program of the Character and Citizenship Education’s Citizenship Education Clearing House (CECH) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. It helps teachers learn and teach about local government.  MY LOGO is set up so that any teacher that wants to teach about city or local government can participate.  Whether you teach 3rd grade or 8th grade or 11th grade, the MY LOGO Program Coordinator will work with you to tailor a program that best meets your students’ needs and district or state standards.

Or if you prefer, you can simply utilize the information provided on our web site to develop your own program.  The entire MY LOGO Teacher Handbook is posted on this website in a PDF format.  This is a comprehensive set of lessons and activities that will help students and others learn about local government.

The Activities for Teachers and Students page will provide you with numerous ideas to implement in your classroom. From field trips to speaking to government leaders to developing action plans . . . the possibilities are endless.

The Understanding Local Government page provides an in-depth explanation of each part of local government. You can use this information as part of a class activity or you can individualize instruction and have groups of students work on different aspects of local government and make presentations to the class.

The Government Leaders Can Help page provides local officials with ideas about how they can participate in creating a community of well-informed and active citizens.