Professional Development

OCLRE provides a variety of professional development opportunities throughout the year including program specific trainings, conferences, workshops on civic education, and authentic instruction methods across curricula! Updates about our offerings can be found on this page, or on our individual program pages.

Looking for a more customized PD experience for your PD day? OCLRE can provide customized PD sessions at your location on topics of your choosing as a benefit of membership, or as a service to districts and curriculum partners. Past offerings have included how to discuss controversy in the classroom, creating C3 inquiry lesson plans, literacy and the law, and more! OCLRE members can book a custom PD session for free provided that at least five teachers will be present for the training. Nonmembers can book custom PD for a $150 honorarium. Pricing is flexible, so please If you are interested in creating a PD session, contact Ryan Suskey at rsuskey@oclre.org.

Mock Trial Conference

2024 Mock Trial Conference

On September 24th & 25th*, OCLRE welcomed teachers & advisors to the 5th Annual Mock Trial Conference at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center in Columbus. The activities included sessions surrounding both High School & Middle School Mock Trial, the presentation of the Eiler Award and the premiere of the 2025 Ohio Mock Trial Case Capsule video. Thank you to all those that attended the conference, and a special thanks to the Supreme Court for hosting us! 

Missed the Conference? You still have the option to sign up for recordings-only which will give you access to videos of the Day 1 sessions on Wednesday, October 9.

Register HERE (Recordings Only)

*September 25th (Day 2) was for the introductory track only

2024 Conference Agenda

2024 Mock Trial Conference - Day 1

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | The Supreme Court of Ohio

2024 Mock Trial Conference - Day 2

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 | The Supreme Court of Ohio

Mock Trial Conference Cost

*Day 2 is only available to Introduction to Mock Trial Attendees who also attended Day 1.

If you are interested in learning more about Ohio High School Mock Trial, please contact Jenna Lewis at jlewis@oclre.org. 

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Ohio Government in Action

Ohio Government in Action is a two-day interactive program that provides educators with effective teaching tools and a renewed enthusiasm they can take back to the classroom. 

Go be­hind the scenes of our gov­ern­ment in Ohio’s state cap­i­tal where ed­u­ca­tors will in­ter­act with the movers and shak­ers in the ex­ec­u­tive, ju­di­cial and leg­isla­tive branches!

See the Ohio Constitution come to life

This an­nual work­shop gives teach­ers an in­sider’s view of state gov­ern­ment via the following:

• Meet with Supreme Court jus­tices, state leg­is­la­tors, and cit­i­zen groups
• Tour the award-win­ning Supreme Court Vis­i­tor Ed­u­ca­tion Cen­ter and the Ohio State­house
• Ob­serve leg­isla­tive and court­room sim­u­la­tions
• And more!

Practical classroom application

After you ex­pe­ri­ence first-hand how in­di­vid­u­als and groups work to­gether to make, in­ter­pret and en­force the Ohio Con­sti­tu­tion, head back to the class­room with ready-to-use les­son plans, class­room ac­tiv­i­ties and re­sources. 

Conference Schedule

Sessions each day will generally run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will focus on the three branches of state government. Conference agendas are subject to change and will be updated as government schedules are made publicly available.

Conference Pricing

Hotel Accommodations

Testimonials

Teachers share their feedback about OGIA: 

“High energy, exciting, and engaging! Valuable data and content for the classroom!”

“Inspiring and pragmatic -- ideas to implement immediately!”

“Speakers were engaging, subject matters were relevant, and sessions were interesting!”

“I net­worked, learned a great deal, and left with solid ma­te­r­ial I can use. Quite the tri­fecta!” 

“[OGIA]def­i­nitely in­spired some new teach­ing strate­gies and fur­ther knowl­edge in the con­tent area.” 

“I was to­tally im­pressed with the con­fer­ence. I have raved about it all day with both my stu­dents and my col­leagues.” 

 “…a great time and very re­ward­ing pro­fes­sional de­vel­op­ment op­por­tu­nity…”

For more information about OGIA contact Ryan Suskey, rsuskey@oclre.org, 614-485-3506.

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We the People Institute

Teacher Grant Opportunity: Civics That Empowers All Students (CEAS)

Stay tuned for more information about the 2025 We the People Institute!

About CEAS

This project is funded by a Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant from the USDOE with the following goals: 

• To increase undeserved grades 4-8 students' attainment of state civics standards, related literacy standards, and social and emotional learning competencies, 
• to create inclusive and identity-safe learning environments for underserved students in grades 4-8, 
• to support high-quality development for diverse teachers, and 
• to study the effectiveness of the updated and enhanced We the People blended-learning professional development program at improving teacher and student outcomes. 

Benefits

• Free professional development! A total of 52 hours of professional development in a learning community with mentors and other teachers from Ohio and neighboring states, including a 36-hour in-person summer institute and 16 hours of online academic-year follow up.
• Engaging pedagogy and academic content, centered on the highly effective We the People curriculum
• A network of support and resources for engaging diverse student populations in the history, principles, and current application of the U.S. Constitution
• Scholar guest speakers
• Access to a library of professional development videos with noted scholars and practitioners cued to the curriculum
• Free set of We the People textbooks and teacher's guide
• A stipend for completing program requirements

Program Requirements

For Ohio's participation in this grant, this program is for teachers in grades 7 or 8 who work with 30% or more underserved students, including:

• Students living in poverty (Title I Schools)
• Students of color
• Students with disabilities
• English learners
• Migrant students
• Students in foster care
• Students performing below grade level
• Other

*The Federal definition of high-need students includes qualifiers such as: students in poverty counted in the most recent census date; students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch; students in families receiving assistance under the State program funded under part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act; students eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program

Commitments

• Participate in 52 hours of professional development
  • 36-hour summer institute; 16 hours of in-service professional development
• A total of 40 hours of classroom instruction using the We the People curriculum
• Involve students in the simulated congressional hearing instructional activity
• Participate in a teacher pre- and post-test
• Administer student pre- and post-tests

Questions? Please contact Ryan Suskey (rsuskey@oclre.org) or call (614) 485-3506.

Constitution Camp

Constitution Camp aims to give Ohio teachers strategies for teaching important topics in history, law, and government. Constitution Camp also helps to introduce Ohio teachers to the We the People program and aims to address the question regarding the Ohio constitution as well as other content-driven and pedagogy/strategies-focused sessions surrounding important, relevant topics teachers (or their students) may wish to discuss in their classrooms, as they are applicable to their courses of study. 
 
The primary topics that are to be highlighted in this year’s Constitution Camp are related to two compelling questions posed by the We the People state competition. The first question related to the Ohio constitution asks students to consider:

"Should education be a fundamental right recognized in the U.S. Constitution?  What are the arguments for and against education being a fundamental right?"

The second question surrounds the separation of powers doctrine, the power of the Executive, and the balance of power between the president and Congress.

Register HERE

Constitution Camp Cost

If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Suskey at rsuskey@oclre.org.