Written by Sunaina Rao, GC’s Sr. Director, Strategic Learning & Evaluation with quotes from Peter Brown, Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator

I first met Peter Brown in 2025 on a blustery day in Oklahoma City. I use the word “met” loosely—what I actually saw was a blur of a human. Peter and his staff were darting across the room, transforming the space for the following day’s Civics Day event. I walked away knowing that Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) was a place where “all hands on deck” isn’t just a slogan; it’s the culture.

Watching Peter interact with students the next day confirmed that first impression. There was a genuine warmth and a profound respect for student voices. It was clear that for OKCPS, students aren’t just residents of a community; they are its future architects.

And so, when I was planning our yearly webinar, the staff at OKCPS naturally came to mind. Peter was eager to share their story from the start. What emerged wasn’t a tale of a simple partnership deal, but a masterclass in strategic alignment.

It’s hard to believe now, but this decade-long success story almost didn’t happen. In 2014, Scott Warren, GC Founder and former CEO, had initially approached Peter, who is the Social Studies Coordinator for the district. Despite a thorough proposal, the first time Peter pitched GC’s program to his supervisor, they said “no.” However, a subsequent meeting with the district superintendent reversed that decision. As Peter said, “They had talked to our then superintendent, and she [said], Peter, you need to make this happen. So she saw the value in it, and we were able to pull together, and we were able to implement a pilot group the next year. Once people saw what students were doing, it continued to grow.” One of the key reasons for this change was because GC’s program met the needs of OKCPS’s strategic plan and desire to incorporate civics into the program. According to Peter, GC’s program came at a perfect time.

Today, GC’s program is an expectation, not an elective. It has survived two district strategic plans and nearly 10 years of leadership changes. In a field where “initiative fatigue” often kills good programs, OKCPS proved that when a program aligns with a district’s core mission, it sticks. According to Peter, over time, this program has become a cultural expectation for what 12th grade at OKCPS is like. While some teachers were initially skeptical of a model that required sharing power with students, over time there has been a cultural shift. Today, there are 10th and 11th grade students at OKCPS schools who are already considering what they want their GC project to look like.

At the start of 2025-26 school year, OKCPS shifted its partnership with GC to align with updated civics standards and a third district strategic plan: instead of implementing in 12th grade, all 9th grade students at OKCPS would go through this program. This has, in many ways, restarted the process of culture-building and creating teacher buy-in around the program. This was something GC staff were prepared for and they worked to win hearts and minds. Many were afraid that the program would be too advanced for 9th grade students, but the first semester of implementation has shown that introducing these concepts earlier has allowed students to go through their high school career with stronger civic voice and skills.

This shift has opened the doors for new possibilities at OKCPS. Peter reflected, “Now they have the opportunity to focus on what does it mean to be a good citizen in 9th grade, and then I am working with some others to figure out what that can look like to continue the projects, and whatever it is they’re working on in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, where we have students who are invested deeply.”

During the webinar, I asked Peter how OKCPS has managed to center GC’s framework for teachers despite so many internal and external shifting priorities since 2016. He replied that “even when conditions got harder nationally and locally, GC provided something for our teachers to lean into”. Our responsive coaching model is designed to support teachers individually in matching GC implementation with district, school, and subject-based standards. Peter expressed that the structure was helpful for teachers as they strived to stay resilient.

In addition to strategic plan alignment, OKCPS has been able to use GC’s program to support their profile of a graduate. GC’s curriculum supports students in fulfilling the “Civic Minded and Culturally Aware” component of this profile. As Peter voiced, “We want our graduates to be civic-minded and culturally aware, ethical and compassionate, and social-emotionally aware […] specifically, they align with what Generation Citizen is equipping them with.”

Students have used their experience with GC’s curriculum to support their application for a civic seal on their high school diploma. While our curriculum doesn’t directly qualify students for the civic seal, it opens the door to community engagement for OKCPS students in ways that they can be recognized.

Through GC’s program, students aren’t just reading about government; they are building the workforce skills of the future. Peter highlighted the importance of the consensus-building process: “No one wants to compromise, but… that’s how we get things done. That is one of the beauties of the consensus process. They figure out how they can compromise and come together to move forward with the project.” Our conversation with Peter reminded us that the best partnerships are about winning hearts and minds, one classroom at a time. As we look toward the next 10 years with OKCPS, we are inspired by their commitment to turning “all hands on deck” from a frantic event prep into a lifelong civic habit.

The passion Peter holds for developing engaged citizens was evident throughout this incredible conversation. Generation Citizen is honored to partner with organizations like OKCPS. To watch the full recording, please click here.