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Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government

Promoting the development of enlightened, responsible, and actively engaged citizens.

We are grateful that you chose to visit our page! The Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida houses the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and is a leading provider of civic education instructional and professional development resources in Florida.

Our work promotes the development of enlightened, responsible, and actively engaged citizens through civic education programs that encourage thoughtful debate and discussion about current policy issues; through experiential learning programs that encourage the development of civic and political skills; by working to help strengthen the civic education capacity of Florida’s K-12 education system; and through research, policy analysis, and advocacy.

Programs of the Institute

Close shot of Governmental Building Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Looking up at American Flag Civics360
Group of friends laying in the grass smiling Florida’s Civic Health
Billboard that says Community is Strength Civic Engagement Initiative
Students talking on campus Civics in Real Time Podcast
Students talking on campus Undergraduate Certificate in Civics Teaching

Congressman Lou Frey: A Legacy

Founded by Congressman Lou Frey, the institute is located at the University of Central Florida’s Research Park as part of the College of Sciences’ School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs.

We encourage you to learn more about Lou Frey, Jr., as there is so much more to him than what we have posted here. You can also visit his dedicated page on C-Span, where a number of videos illustrate his knowledge of our political system, Congress, and his wonderful character and sense of humor. And check out this interview the Congressman did with a young student about civic education and public service. A really powerful short piece that says so much about his work and leadership.

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Testimonials

Thank you for the Civics lesson plan and benchmark resources you provide to us. 
I teach in a title 1 school and we have consistently used elements of your resources to incorporate into our lessons throughout the year. We also use resources from G2AG textbook, TCI textbook, and those found in CPalms. 
This past year, we revised all our lessons and practice tests for the new and updated standards. 
Most helpful to our needs are the FJCC benchmark aligned EOC practice questions of varying DOK and stimuli. We also use your lessons (not in their entirety, as they tend to be at a higher level than our students) as part of the resource set. We also find the various vocabulary resources helpful. 
We have also used to the Civics 360 practice questions and readings as well and look forward to their updates for all the new changes. 
Thanks for all your efforts. 
Brent
Palm Beach County
As a Civics teacher having finished her 9th year teaching Civics, I have relied entirely on the FJCC and Loy Frey Institute for their Civics curriculum, lesson plans, Civics360, and the Civics in Real Life lessons. The guidance that the FJCC/Lou Frey Institute gives allows Civics teachers across the State to know how to most effectively teach this Florida State tested course. The professional development offered by the FJCC/Lou Frey Institute is invaluable for Civics teachers and allows us to know how to not just teach what the state benchmarks require for us to teach, but to have a deeper understanding ourselves of the material and concept. Thank you for providing all of this to the teachers of Civics in the state of Florida. 
Shannon
Pinellas County
Thanks to your PDs and FJCC, I don’t know how I would have made sense out of Civics. To be honest, FDOE in-services were ok and our District wasn’t much better. Your platforms have made a difference and I use them extensively. 
Civics is as important as math, science, and ela. I’ve taught them all and I truly believe in the motto, learned from the YMCA, “Democracy must be learned by every generation.” 
It would be a crime to cut your budget. The proofs in the pudding, our good scores on EOCs are in large part due to FJCC. 
Thanks so much for putting your heart into Civics for Florida students.
Robert
Walton County
I regularly weave these resources into my daily curriculum. My students find them especially helpful and they really enjoy how the benchmarks are connected to current events. 
I cannot imagine teaching Civics in the state without these valuable resources for teachers and students. To lose them would be a loss for our students, especially now that Florida has added the Civics test one more time before graduating from high school. I believe our results speak to the importance of continued resources for teachers in the state, especially those new to the Civics curriculum. 
Dianne
Bay County 
I will continue to supplement my instruction with information I receive from the Lou Frey institute because it is contemporary, tried and true. 
The resources provided are the tools teachers need to teach, with fidelity, confidence and safely, in a world that is changing (threatening our teaching licenses) everyday. I appreciate the clearinghouse of resources that the Lou Frey Institute and FJCC provide. 
Bonnie
Nyu
First year civics teacher here (26 years of teaching, but 1st year in civics). Once we met with someone from the state and they told us about the FJCC site, I used pretty much only the FJCC resources for my lessons with our TCI book as a reading resource. My pass rate for the first year was 85%! My scores were better than the 7 year Civics veteran teaching it! I love the details of the plans, the vocabulary, and all the resources.
Wendi
Orange County
We use the LFI resources to plan as a department weekly. We use the lesson plans to guide instruction, vocabulary and assessments. 
I would be truly be adrift without your resources. I have used them faithfully at title one and more affluent schools. They are tailor made for our students to be successful on the state EOC and as engaged citizens we so desperately need. 
I truly hope you are able to continue the great work of the Lou Frey Institute. 
Anne
Collier County
The FJCC lessons help guide me, and provide excerpts of primary sources as well as gallery walk ideas, vocabulary activities and classwork to check for student understanding. Thank you for providing this valuable resource for my classroom! I use it almost every day. 
Traci
Marion County
Your resources are the best! 
I appreciate these resources tremendously. 
Amy
Broward County 
I just wanted to you let you know that I find the resources and PD provided by the Lou Frey Institute and FJCC extremely useful!!! 
I use the lessons plans, videos, and activities all the time. 
Ariell
Broward County