Beyond Politics: Nurturing Informed Citizens

Retro Report and DC Public Library host a screening and panel discussion on civic engagement

What happens when high school students from across the country wrestle with what it means to be a citizen today? In a new documentary series, a group of American teenagers reveal their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and politics while grappling with critical questions about democracy.

Retro Report, an independent, nonprofit news organization committed to enhancing civic engagement and critical thinking through award-winning documentaries and educational resources, alongside the DC Public Library, will host a panel discussion and screening of CITIZEN NATION, a PBS and Retro Report series. 

CITIZEN NATION follows high school students as they prepare for the “We the People” national finals—a competition where students present constitutional arguments in simulated congressional hearings. The program, developed by the Center for Civic Education, challenges students to master the foundations of U.S. democracy and defend their interpretations before panels of judges acting as members of Congress.

The panel, led by moderator John Donvan, an Emmy-award-winning author, journalist and moderator-in-chief of Open to Debate, will focus on strategies for fostering civil discourse skills in classrooms and beyond. Panelists include educators, experts and a new generation of leaders who are discovering what it means to show up, be civil and tackle the big issues straight on. 

About Retro Report

Retro Report is an Emmy award-wining nonprofit newsroom dedicated to producing documentary journalism and educational resources. Retro Report has created documentaries in partnership with PBS Frontline, The New York Times, the New Yorker, PBS NewsHour, Scientific American and many others. Retro Report's educational resources reach about 30,000 teachers a month.

About the Panelists

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist and multiple Emmy Award winner, John Donvan currently serves as Moderator-in-Chief for Open to Debate, the nation's premier debate program, heard on public radio and via podcast. As a journalist, Donvan held multiple global postings for ABC News and CNN, including Moscow, London, Jerusalem, Amman and the White House. His 2016 book, In A Different Key: The Story of Autism, was a New York Times bestseller, and the basis for his documentary of the same title which was broadcast on PBS and was winner of the RFK Award. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia University School of Journalism, he resides in Washington, DC.

Natasha Dupee is the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives in Washington, D.C. A fifth-generation native Washingtonian, she is committed to creating and defending policies that increase access to a quality life. Her professional background includes workforce development for hospital systems, political campaigns, project management, and various roles in secondary and post-secondary education.

Stephanie Hasty is an English teacher at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, MD, and a member of Retro Report's Council of Educators. She grew up in Mansfield, MO, where the "Little House" books were written, and learned to embrace her identity as a woman of mixed heritage in the Ozarks. Her journey has been shaped by the challenges and rewards of small-town life and she loves sharing this perspective with her students in suburban Maryland.

Maddy Waldman is a multi-disciplined artist, with a focus as a documentary filmmaker and creative writer. She is a senior at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, in Washington DC, but was born and raised in upstate New York. She is a winner of the 2024 Know Your Power Teen Arts Contest, organized by the DC Public Library. Through her work, she hopes to tell the stories that you can’t always see.

Journeylove Taylor is one of the students featured on CITIZEN NATION. She graduated from Wauwatosa West High School in Wauwatosa, WI, and is a coach for the We The People competition.

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