HISTORY. LEADERSHIP. SERVICE. PUBLIC POLICY. YOUR TURN.
30 STUDENTS. TWO TRACKS. ONE INCREDIBLE YEAR.
LEADERSHIP ISN’T SOMETHING YOU STUDY.
IT’S SOMETHING YOU STEP INTO.
EXPERIENCE
Where it
All Began
Boston + Philadelphia
Walk the places where America’s founding ideas took shape.
From the Freedom Trail and Boston Tea Party to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, students will go beyond the textbook to explore the debates, decisions, and ideas that shaped our constitutional republic.
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Understand where we began to better understand where we’re going.
EXPERIENCE
Service and Leadership in Action
Military Base Experience
Step inside a world most students never get to experience.
Students will visit an active military installation and explore military service, veterans affairs, defense policy, career pathways, and the relationship between civilian government and the Armed Forces.
The experience will be shaped by each student’s Academy track and shared with mentors who help students connect what they see to leadership and service in their own lives.
EXPERIENCE
The Nation's Capitol
Washington, D.C.
See government at work at two different levels.
Students head to Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region to experience institutions including the U.S. Capitol, National Archives, Library of Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, and more.
Meet leaders. Ask questions. Compare institutions. Understand how decisions move from ideas to action.
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Final Showcase
Sarasota, FL
Your Turn to Lead
The Academy culminates at the FCDI State Championship, where students present the civic or service initiatives they have developed throughout the year. This is where everything comes together.
Students identify an issue that matters to them, research it, develop an action plan or policy solution, put that plan into action, measure their impact, and tell the story of what they accomplished. Learn it. Experience it. Then do something with it.
Understand where we began to better understand where we’re going.
Throughout the Year: Mentorship
You Won't Do It Alone
Throughout the Academy, students will participate in online learning and supervised mentoring sessions with civic, service, and community leaders.
Sessions will help students develop practical skills including project management, fundraising, intergovernmental relations, leadership, and professional communication while mentors help guide students through their individual projects.
OCT. 07
Orientation
ONLINE
NOV. 07-09
Civic Immersion Academy
BOSTON, MA & PHILADELPHIA, PA
JAN. 23-25
Civic Immersion Academy
MILITARY BASE TBD
MAR. 30 - APR. 04
Civic Immersion Academy
WASHINGTON, D.C.
APR. 24
Civic Immersion Academy
SARASOTA, FL
ALL EXPENSES PAID YEAR-LONG
CIVIC LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
This isn’t a field trip. It’s your chance to step inside the story.
The Civic Immersion Academy is a year-long experience for high-achieving, service-minded students who want to understand how leadership, government, service, and public policy work in the real world.
You’ll travel. You’ll learn from people doing the work. You’ll explore institutions that have shaped our country. You’ll work with a mentor. And throughout the year, you’ll turn what you learn into a civic or service project of your own.
By the end of the Academy, you won’t just know more about civic leadership. You’ll have practiced it.
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
This is for students who want to DO MORE.
The Civic Immersion Academy is open to students in grades 10–12 from across Florida. We’re looking for students who demonstrate:
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Leadership
Academic commitment
A heart for service
Curiosity about government, public policy, or military service
A willingness to step outside their comfort zone
A desire to make an impact in their school or community
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CHOOSE YOUR TRACK
ONE ACADEMY. TWO PATHS TO LEADERSHIP.
Students choose a track when they enter the Academy:
POLICY
COLLECTIVE
Explore leadership through government, public policy, civil service, community leadership, and elected office. Students will meet leaders working at different levels of government and learn how ideas become policy, how decisions are made, and how public servants turn problems into action.
SALUTE TO SERVICE
Explore leadership through the lens of military service, national defense, veterans affairs, and the institutions and people who serve our country.
Students will gain firsthand exposure to military and veteran policy, service pathways, and the connection between military service and civilian leadership.
DIFFERENT PATHS. SHARED MISSION:
BUILDING FLORIDA'S NEXT GENERATION OF GREAT CITIZENS AND LEADERS.
EXPERIENCE
HIGHLIGHTS
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GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
MENTORSHIP
LEARN FROM LEADERS
HISTORY
BOSTON & PHILADELPHIA
ACTION
DEVELOP CIVIC INITIATIVE
SERVICE
MILITARY INSTALLATION
LEADERSHIP
FINAL SHOWCASE
AND MORE!
WHAT STUDENTS
ARE SAYING
"
FDI has given us an amazing opportunity to truly immerse ourselves in civics, especially by visiting the various memorials here in Washington. We have had the opportunity to discover how much the world has to offer us."
PETER MOYWAYWA,
2024 CIVICS IMMERSION EXPERIENCE PARTICIPATION
SEE WHERE IT STARTED
2025 CIVICS IMMERSION
EXPERIENCE RECAP
Now, we’re taking the experience even further.
GRADES 10–12 | UP TO 30 STUDENTS | STATEWIDE | ALL EXPENSES PAID
