Professional Development

Professional Development

OCLRE provides a variety of Professional Development (PD) opportunities throughout the year including program specific trainings, conferences, workshops on civic education, and authentic instruction methods across curricula! Updates about our offerings can be found on this page, or on our individual program pages.

Looking for a more customized PD experience for your PD day? OCLRE can provide customized PD sessions at your location on topics of your choosing as a benefit of membership or as a service to districts and curriculum partners. Past offerings have included how to discuss controversy in the classroom, creating C3 inquiry lesson plans, literacy and the law, and more! OCLRE members can book a custom PD session for free provided that at least five teachers will be present for the training. Non-members can book custom PD for a $150 honorarium. Pricing is also flexible. If you are interested in creating a PD session, contact Ryan Suskey at rsuskey@oclre.org.

Mock Trial Conference

2025 Mock Trial Conference Information

2025 Mock Trial Conference

Dates: Monday, Sept. 15th and Tuesday, Sept. 16th

Location: Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center (Supreme Court Building)

 

Save the dates! The 2025 Mock Trial Conference will take place on September 15th - 16th at the Moyer Ohio Judicial Center (Supreme Court Building) in Columbus! This year’s sessions will include the ELA skills of Mock Trial, structuring team practices & running an invitational tournament. We will also release the case file and the rule changes for the 2026 Competition season.

Deep Dive: The Deep Dive option for this year's conference is on Monday, September 15th ONLY.

Introduction Track: The Intro Track option will be available on Monday, September 15th and Tuesday, September 16th, though attendees do not have to attend both days. However, attendees must attend Day 1 in order to attend Day 2.

 

Click HERE to Register

 


2025 Agenda

 

Day 1 - Monday, September 15

 

Intro Track Time Deep Dive Track Time
Check in 8:00 - 8:30
Welcome and Introductions (Breakfast Provided) 8:30 - 9:00
What is Mock Trial: Overview of Program & Materials 9:00 - 9:45 ELA Skills of Mock Trial 9:00 - 10:00
Competition and Showcase Logistics 9:45 - 10:30 Hosting an Invitational Tournament 10:00 - 10:30 
Mock Trial Scope and Sequence 10:30 - 11:00 Experienced Advisor Panel Discussion 10:30 - 11:30 
Video Clips
(Last year’s case – Opening/closing, Direct/Cross)
11:00 - 12:30 Helping Students with Argumentation 11:30 - 12:30
Lunch and Award Presentation 12:30 - 1:45
Middle School Session 1:45 3:00 High School Case Topic, Rule Changes and Case Release Session 1:45 3:00
Roundtable Discussions 
3:00 - 4:00
Dismiss/End of Day 4:00

 

 

Printable Version

 

Day 2 - Tuesday, September 16

 

TBA

 


Mock Trial Conference Cost

 
Conference Topics: 1 Day: 2 Days*:
Introduction to Mock Trial: $60.00 $80.00
Deep Dive into Mock Trial: $60.00 N/A
Recordings-only (Day 1 Intro + Deep Dive): Available for $25.00

 

*Day 2 is only available to Introduction to Mock Trial Attendees who also attended Day 1.


If you are interested in learning more about Ohio Mock Trial, please contact Jenna Lewis at jlewis@oclre.org

Ohio Government in Action

Ohio Government in Action (OGIA) is a two-day interactive program that provides educators with effective teaching tools and a renewed enthusiasm they can take back to the classroom. Go be­hind the scenes of our gov­ern­ment in Ohio’s state cap­i­tal where ed­u­ca­tors will in­ter­act with the movers and shak­ers in the ex­ec­u­tive, ju­di­cial and leg­isla­tive branches!

 

See the Ohio Constitution come to life

 

This an­nual work­shop gives teach­ers an in­sider’s view of state gov­ern­ment via the following:

  • Meet with Supreme Court jus­tices, state leg­is­la­tors, and cit­i­zen groups
  • Tour the award-win­ning Supreme Court Vis­i­tor Ed­u­ca­tion Cen­ter and the Ohio State­house
  • Ob­serve leg­isla­tive and court­room sim­u­la­tions
  • And more!

 

Practical classroom application

 

After you ex­pe­ri­ence first-hand how in­di­vid­u­als and groups work to­gether to make, in­ter­pret and en­force the Ohio Con­sti­tu­tion, head back to the class­room with ready-to-use les­son plans, class­room ac­tiv­i­ties and re­sources.

 

Conference Schedule

 

The goal of the OGIA conference is to bring teachers up front with state and local government. Because of the nature of public events, and elected officials’ schedules, the agenda is always subject to change and develops throughout the planning process. The agenda below represents last year's conference schedule.

 

2025 OGIA Agenda

 

Conference Pricing

 
  Member Rate: Non-Member Rate:
1 Day: $80.00 $160.00
2 Days: $130.00 $260.00

 


Hotel Accommodations

 
For registrants traveling from out of town, there are a several hotels within walking distance to the Supreme Court:
 

Testimonials

 

Teachers share their feedback about OGIA: 

 

“High energy, exciting, and engaging! Valuable data and content for the classroom!”

“Inspiring and pragmatic -- ideas to implement immediately!”

“Speakers were engaging, subject matters were relevant, and sessions were interesting!”

“I net­worked, learned a great deal, and left with solid ma­te­r­ial I can use. Quite the tri­fecta!” 

“[OGIA]def­i­nitely in­spired some new teach­ing strate­gies and fur­ther knowl­edge in the con­tent area.” 

“I was to­tally im­pressed with the con­fer­ence. I have raved about it all day with both my stu­dents and my col­leagues.” 

 “…a great time and very re­ward­ing pro­fes­sional de­vel­op­ment op­por­tu­nity…”

 

For more information about OGIA contact Ryan Suskey, rsuskey@oclre.org, 614-485-3506.

We the People Institute

Teacher Grant Opportunity: Civics That Empowers All Students (CEAS)

 

About CEAS

This project is funded by a Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant from the USDOE with the following goals: 

  • To increase undeserved grades 4-8 students' attainment of state civics standards, related literacy standards, and social and emotional learning competencies, 
  • to create inclusive and identity-safe learning environments for underserved students in grades 4-8, 
  • to support high-quality development for diverse teachers, and 
  • to study the effectiveness of the updated and enhanced We the People blended-learning professional development program at improving teacher and student outcomes. 

Benefits

  • Free professional development! A total of 52 hours of professional development in a learning community with mentors and other teachers from Ohio and neighboring states, including a 36-hour in-person summer institute and 16 hours of online academic-year follow up.
  • Engaging pedagogy and academic content, centered on the highly effective We the People curriculum
  • A network of support and resources for engaging diverse student populations in the history, principles, and current application of the U.S. Constitution
  • Scholar guest speakers
  • Access to a library of professional development videos with noted scholars and practitioners cued to the curriculum
  • Free set of We the People textbooks and teacher's guide
  • A stipend for completing program requirements

Program Requirements

For Ohio's participation in this grant, this program is for teachers in grades 7 or 8 who work with 30% or more underserved students, including:

  • Students living in poverty (Title I Schools)
  • Students of color
  • Students with disabilities
  • English learners
  • Migrant students
  • Students in foster care
  • Students performing below grade level
  • Other

*The Federal definition of high-need students includes qualifiers such as: students in poverty counted in the most recent census date; students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch; students in families receiving assistance under the State program funded under part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act; students eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program

Commitments

  • Participate in 52 hours of professional development
    • 36-hour summer institute; 16 hours of in-service professional development
  • A total of 40 hours of classroom instruction using the We the People curriculum
  • Involve students in the simulated congressional hearing instructional activity
  • Participate in a teacher pre- and post-test
  • Administer student pre- and post-tests

 

Questions? Please contact Danny Rains at drains@oclre.org or call (614) 485-3514.

 

Constitution Camp

2025 Constitution Camp Information

 

2025 Constitution Camp

 

Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Location: Virtual via Zoom

 

Join OCLRE this Fall for the 2025 Constitution Camp! The conference, which will be held virtually this year, will take place live over Zoom on November 18, 2025. Conference Attendees will also receive recordings shortly after. After December 1, 2025, the conference recordings will be available to all OCLRE members under the “Member Resources" page at the top right of the website. The 2025 Constitution Camp topics include:

  • Historical view of firearms and the Constitution
  • Gerrymandering
  • The Philadelphia Convention (with the National Constitution Center)
  • Challenges of a 21st Century American Constitutional Democracy
  • How to Teach Authentic Assessment and We the People

 

What is Constitution Camp?

Constitution Camp is an opportunity to join legal experts for insightful discussions surrounding the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Appellate Process all with a distinct Ohio perspective. The conference directly ties in with We the People and Moot Court, in which several forms of content, teaching strategies and classroom applications related to the programs are introduced & analyzed.

 


Constitution Camp Cost

 
  Cost (Member & Non-Member Rate):
Online, synchronous (1-Day): $20.00

 


If you have any questions, please contact Danny Rains at drains@oclre.org or call (614) 485-3514.

Moot Court Webinars

Information coming soon...