For the third year, Mundelein High School will hold a Civics Fair featuring Advanced Placement (AP) US and Comparative Government students. The event will take place Thursday, March 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the high school’s commons area.

Among the scheduled guests for the Fair will be Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz and representatives from the offices of Melinda Bush and Daniel Didech and possibly others. The goal is for students to present in Science-Fair style, proposals to reform the US political institutions or electoral system based on the founding principles of the nation.

“The students have come up with some great ideas to present information about term limits, the Electoral College, making election day a national holiday and campaign finance reform, to name a few. This year several projects are aimed at reforming the Presidential Primary Nomination system, which will be March 17 in Illinois.” said Tom Kuhn, AP US and Comparative Government instructor and coordinator of the event along with the student organization, Political Action Committee. “They don’t just present information, though; they also must devise ways to make implementation of the reforms possible,” he described.

The projects will be judged by a panel of social studies instructors, past and present, and the top 10 finishers will move on to state competition at Adlai Stevenson High School.

The Civics Fair is conducted as part of the Mikva Challenge Project, Civics Works. The Challenge was founded on the premise that youth voice and participation matter and that civic and political life will be stronger when youth participate and help shape their own destinies. According to their website, Mikva Challenge develops youth to be empowered, informed and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society.

Kuhn, a former AP exam reader, now consults in social studies for the College Board and has worked on a teacher edition for a textbook in social studies as well.