Democracy in Practice: 9th Grade Citizens’ Assembly

In May, Helena Gougeon and Amanda Williams brought Portland’s Clean Energy Fund into their 9th grade social studies classroom and asked 80 students to deliberate on the city program as citizens.

When students in Catlin Gabel’s 9th grade Civics and Society class stopped by the Inclusion Office for candy this May, they kept talking about the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), even when they didn’t have to show anything to a teacher. PCEF, approved by voters in 2018, funds clean energy, job training, and green infrastructure projects through a surcharge on large retailers’ profits.

Staff noticed the same thing: a sign that the project had genuinely grabbed students’ attention and thinking, well beyond what any assignment required.

The project was the PCEF Citizens’ Assembly, designed and led by Upper School teachers Helena Gougeon and Amanda Williams. Over three weeks in May, 9th graders at Catlin Gabel—more than 80 students across six sections of Civics and Society—engaged in a deliberative polling process modeled on the kind of citizens’ assemblies used in democratic governance around the world.

“Too often, young people are told they are ‘the future’ of democracy,” Gougeon and Williams said. “This project operated from a different assumption: that they are already participants in democracy right now.”

How It Worked

The Portland Clean Energy Fund had surplus funds to allocate. Students were asked to weigh in on a real question: should those funds go toward environmental projects, underserved communities, Portland Public Schools, the city’s general budget, or the Portland Police Bureau?

Students began by generating their own research questions, then spent several days mapping arguments and writing evidence-based essays arguing for a specific position. Before any deliberation began, they took an initial poll to make their current thinking visible.

From there, roughly a dozen community experts came into the classroom—including Albina Vision Trust, Neighbors for Clean Air, NAYA, Southeast Works, Portland Public Schools, the Portland Police Association, sustainability consultants, and city staff. Many were identified and contacted by students themselves.

“Rather than learning about the fund abstractly, students heard directly from people doing the work,” Gougeon and Williams shared, “which helped them understand how funding decisions translate into real community impact.”

Students then moved into small group deliberations, teaching each other what they’d learned and weighing competing proposals together. 

In a final session, students retook the same poll to reflect on how their thinking had shifted. They also collectively considered whose voices had been missing from the process.

“Many students entered the project assuming these choices would be straightforward,” Gougeon and Williams said, “but quickly discovered that each option reflected legitimate needs and compelling arguments.”

Why This Format

Gougeon and Williams chose the citizens’ assembly format and PCEF case study deliberately.

“PCEF’s projects are local, visible, and directly connected to students’ lives,” they said. “When students can see the decision-makers, attend the meetings, and potentially influence the outcomes, democracy stops feeling abstract and starts feeling real.”

The structure also gave students the experience of having their thinking shaped by evidence and dialogue.

“The pre- and post-deliberation polling makes that shift visible—students can literally see how their thinking evolved after researching, listening to experts, and deliberating with peers,” Gougeon and Williams noted. “That’s not just civic knowledge; that’s civic formation.”

The teachers also emphasized the difference between deliberation and debate. “Debate asks you to win,” they said. “Deliberation asks you to weigh trade-offs, make compromises, and consider what’s best for the public good. That’s a much harder and more democratic skill to develop, and it’s one students don’t typically get the chance to practice.”

For Gougeon and Williams, that distinction is the whole point of the project. 

“We hope students leave with a deeper understanding that democracy is not just voting,” they said, “but listening, questioning, deliberating, and making decisions alongside people with different experiences and perspectives.”