As I listen to social studies teacher Audri Green talk about civic engagement, her eyes light up. It’s not just a subject she teaches—it’s something she believes can transform a school, a community, and eventually the lives of Meridian students. That belief is what led her to revive a long-forgotten club at Meridian High School and bring the Civic Bobcats back to life.

No one is quite sure when the original Civic Bobcats existed or what they did. Students didn’t remember it, and staff memories were fuzzy at best. But Audri saw an opportunity to build something meaningful in its place—something that could give students both responsibility and voice.

“My role is basically the facilitator,” she explained. “I want the kids to have the authority. That’s why we elected a president, vice president, and secretary. They need to feel like their leadership matters.” It was important to her that students experience what it feels like to vote, to choose leaders, and to see those leaders take action on behalf of their classmates. As someone who teaches government and civics, the process mattered as much as the project.

The Civic Bobcats are still in their earliest stages. Their first official meeting was not long ago, spent talking about what the club even is, what community service means, and what kinds of things fall under civic responsibility. The second meeting, held just the day before, kick-started their very first project: a food drive for families in need. Students are creating signs, placing donation boxes throughout the school, and preparing to expand the effort to local businesses. With concerns about changes in SNAP benefits and the holidays coming up, the group plans to run two drives—one for Thanksgiving and another for Christmas.

But the Civic Bobcats aren’t just about community service. They’re also about school improvement—starting with the issues students care about most. At recent meetings, students brought up concerns like the desire for more drink options at lunch, the need for new jerseys for the girls basketball team, and even the return of lockers, which have sat unused since COVID. The lockers are a surprisingly big request, especially for high schoolers who want a place to keep their things and take pride in their space.

Audri doesn’t simply tell them yes or no. She teaches them how change happens. “If you want something, you need a plan of action,” she tells them. She is preparing to take small groups of students to school board meetings so they can see the democratic process up close—community members electing leaders, leaders discussing issues, decisions being made. She wants them to understand that even though they’re young, the steps toward meaningful change are the same for everyone: speak up, organize, participate.

Her long-term vision goes even deeper. She hopes to rebuild the school library, which hasn’t been functioning as a true library for some time. She imagines a calm, quiet place where students can work, read, or simply breathe. And she hopes Civic Bobcats members will take turns helping elementary classes select books and check them out. It’s a small idea that carries big meaning: students serving other students, becoming stewards of learning.

Membership in the Civic Bobcats is growing faster than expected. Audri hoped for five students at the first meeting; instead, 20 to 25 showed up. The club currently includes only high schoolers, since the junior high has a different lunch period, but she’s open to expanding once additional sponsors are involved.

As the facilitator, she knows the club’s activities may require students to give up time after school or even spend a Saturday volunteering. She hopes they’ll understand that this sacrifice is part of what it means to make their community better. “If it serves the greater good,” she says, “then it’s worth it.”

By the end of the school year, Audri hopes students will be able to point to at least one real, concrete change the Civic Bobcats were able to petition for and accomplish—something they organized, planned, advocated for, and saw through. Even something as simple as returning the lockers would be a win, she says, as long as the students themselves led the process.

But more than any specific project, Audri wants the Civic Bobcats to become a mindset. She wants students to feel like they belong, like they have a role in shaping the world around them, and like their actions matter. She wants them to see that change doesn’t only happen in Washington, D.C. It starts right here—in their hallways, in their neighborhoods, and in the way they treat their community.

“Being civic-minded,” she explained, “means thinking about others. It means asking what benefits everyone, not just what benefits me.”

Her hope is simple but powerful: that the students she works with today will grow into adults who understand how to make change happen. Adults who vote, volunteer, show up, and take responsibility for the places they call home. Adults who don’t wait for someone else to fix things, but who step forward themselves. That is a worthy hope.