Marshall-Brennan Program
Named in honor of the late Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr., the Marshall-Brennan Program aims to broaden Americans’ understanding of the Constitution by bringing law students into high school classrooms. Founded at American University’s Washington College of Law in the District of Columbia, the Program sends select upper-level law students into local high schools to teach a course in constitutional and civic literacy. Next fall, Hastings’ first class of Marshall-Brennan students will begin teaching.
This program gives talented law students an extraordinary opportunity: the chance to teach a high school course about the Constitution, citizenship, and education. After working closely in a small-group setting with Professor Hillman, students take their knowledge and skills into local high schools to run their own classes. Students will enroll in Professor Hillman’s Fall 2009 course in Community Legal Education for three non-course credits. After an initial training session in pedagogy and community service, students will be assigned to schools in teams of two to teach a course that focuses on the Constitution and the rights of students.