Street Law matches your corporate legal department or ACC Chapter with a local high school social studies class or classes. Volunteers visit the students in class to teach them basic legal concepts, and then the students take a field trip to the company or a local law firm. On the field trip, students participate in engaging simulations of legal activities – like mock contract negotiations, mock trials, mock mediations, etc. The field trip also includes a legal careers activity and lunch.
Street Law works to find partner schools that are nearby, serve students of color, have an appropriate class to integrate the program into, and where teachers and administrators support the program. If you have a pre-existing relationship with a local high school, we will consider that school as a match. The number of classes and students you work with depends on the number of volunteers participating.
The participating students are all in high school – grade levels vary depending on the school and partner classes. The program is integrated into existing classes at the school – so, for example, it might be a portion of a student’s 4th period American Government class. Partner classes are often law, civics, or government, or other related social studies course. The program also works well in business law and business education classes.
Anyone in the legal department can be a successful volunteer in this program. There are a variety of roles for volunteers – from being the lead organizer, to participating in a portion of the field trip, to helping with logistics. Each company or chapter can decide which staff members may volunteer.
While different volunteer roles come with different time commitments, most volunteers can anticipate spending 12-18 hours on the project in the first year, and fewer in subsequent years. That time includes the training session, planning, a class visit, and the field trip. A few people will spend more time organizing the volunteers and the logistics for the program, and a few will spend less time – particularly if they only attend a portion of the field trip.
The lessons in this program all focus on law, particularly civil and business law. Typical topics include contracts, employment, advertising, trademarks, copyrights, ethics, insurance, and credit. Volunteers do not have to have teaching experience. Street Law provides training to all volunteers, helps you choose legal topics for your program, and gives you access to our extensive library of interactive lesson plans. Street Law is also willing to help you modify an existing lesson to fit your company’s business.
It’s ok if you’re not an expert. Review the material in advance, and if students have a question that you can’t answer, tell them “I don’t know that answer, but I will do some research and contact your teacher with the answer.”
Yes, volunteers typically visit the partner classes to teach the lessons in pairs or groups of 3-4. Additionally, the partner teacher will always remain in the classroom with you. This allows teachers to be a part of the experience and to relate what you have taught to other lessons throughout the course. We have found that there are rarely any discipline issues when volunteers come to classrooms for this program, but the classroom teacher is there to handle them if necessary.
The field trip activities should all be simulations of real-world legal problems. If you can relate them to your company’s business, that’s great. For example, Coca-Cola has the students negotiate a mock endorsement contract for one of their brands. Marriott International has the students investigate and solve an employment dispute, and Allstate has the students participate in a mock trial of a lawsuit about a car accident. Most programs offer 2-4 workshops, which last between 70 and 90 minutes. The workshop topics should all relate to the lessons that were taught in the classroom – the lessons are used to introduce students to the topics and prepare them to participate at the field trip. Street Law has an extensive collection of field trip workshop plans, and will help you choose, adapt, or create one.
You and your colleagues can decide how you want to dress. We suggest that you wear whatever you typically wear to work.
An evaluation of the program showed that participating students were more interested in legal careers afterwards, and reported that they knew more about legal careers. Students said that they felt inspired by the volunteers and were encouraged to pursue legal careers.
