Garnering statewide attention...

Legal Eagles may be a model for other programs

Legal Eagles has been in the Curwensville Area School District for four years, and the program may soon become a model for areas throughout the state.

Last week, David Trevaskis, director of Law, Education & Peace for Kids, visited a Legal Eagle program at Curwensville and St. Francis schools to get a better understanding of what the program entailed and how to explain it to other people who may be interested in starting similar programs in their areas.

Mark Falvo started Legal Eagles four years ago and not only do speakers talk to students in Curwensville Elementary but also the program has expanded to St. Francis. He said he started the program for many reasons, including because he believes everyone has a civic responsibility, and he wants to continue what he started in the 1990s and give back to the community.

"I enjoy talking with the students and hearing their questions, seeing the answers and the students' reactions," Mr. Falvo said.

The speakers include local, state and federal law enforcement representatives, as well as military personnel and other officials in the community.

"I've been following what Mark's been doing for quite awhile," Mr. Trevaskis said. "We work with schools and other agencies to promote civic learning and I wanted to get information about this program to share as a model."

He said the governor's wife, Marjorie Rendell, is a federal judge and cannot do fund-raising events but she is concerned about students not knowing how to connect to the government. He said she decided to "not recreate the wheel," to promote civic learning. So, the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy was created and works with many partners to persuade public officials, educators and civic leaders to strengthen schools' historic mission of educative for democracy and providing resources "so that all Americans have the best possible civic learning experience."

He said Legal Eagles will be added to the "toolbox" in which different programs are included that schools may adopt and utilize throughout the state. He plans to put the model into next year's Law Day book. He said he would include how the program evolved and how important it is to have local political leaders on your side.

"Mark obviously has support," he said. "We want to support that network. Whatever we can do to help, we want to be there."

"The schools have been really good to me," Mr. Falvo said. "The teachers and administrators I worked with made the program what it is, without them there would be no program."

He added that the speakers who come in and him have become friends, and he "would do anything for them."

Mr. Falvo said he came up with the idea of Legal Eagles through another program, the Boy Scouts Law Explorers program. He then worked with Career Day and when that went "by the wayside," he was looking for something to do to give to the community.

He then started Legal Eagles in Curwensville Elementary and it "took on a life of its own."

Not only do students hear from government representatives, but they also spread cheer to troops serving overseas. Mr. Falvo said students hears from people who were overseas when they returned and also kept in touch through e-mail to some local troops. Mr. Falvo sent over Legal Eagles T-shirts for the troops, but was told they handed them out to schoolchildren in Iraq instead.

Mr. Trevaskis said Legal Eagles could be used for students in kindergarten through 12th grade and is "such a great option to take." With the success of the local program, Mr. Trevaskis said teacher and school support is essential.

Mr. Trevaskis said he had two goals with his visit to Clearfield: to celebrate the program, because "any time you have people doing good stuff, it needs to be celebrated"; and to make sure the words gets out about the program.

"Clearfield County has something others can steal," he said. "For lawyers, this is a way to give back to the community and very few give back to the extent that Mark does—that has to be celebrated, not ignored."

He said there are resources available that could help offset the costs of the program and PennCORD might be able to obtain grants for the program. Mr. Trevaskis said schools could also have the opportunity to travel to Philadelphia or other places in the state to see how government works.

He will make a return trip to the area to do a program on the United States and the state constitution.

He said schools with programs that can connect students to the community tend to have good test scores overall.

"We do know schools that are successful use special programs to connect to the community—what a better way to do that than Legal Eagles? This program gives students ownership in their community."

He said there are other mentoring programs throughout the state, but what is unique to the Legal Eagles program are Mr. Falvo's commitment and intensity.

He said Mr. Falvo will be recognized for the third time by the Bar Associations in March.