America at 250:  This is one of a trio of stories published in Summer 2026 about three of the Foundation’s civic learning grantees. These organizations are finding new ways to work toward a common goal: preparing young people to be informed, engaged citizens in our democracy. Our other two stories focus on Creating Citizens, the civics learning initiative of the Commonwealth Club World Affairs, and iCivics’ Civic Star Challenge.

Common Sense Media (CSM)—a national leader in digital and media literacy curricula and training—is a primary grantee of the Koret Foundation’s Civic Learning Initiative.  With Koret support, CSM developed a full suite of Civics in Digital Life lessons to expand their flagship Digital Citizenship Curriculum, and created a new Digital Literacy and Well-Being Curriculum, tested this year in 50 classrooms across 15 states, including California. To gather feedback and refine content, the CSM team convened a youth advisory board and a teen press corps; to deepen their understanding of digital safety concerns, the team also solicited the input of parents and caregivers. Concurrently, an important shift was emerging in public perception: Digital and media literacy were increasingly being recognized as critical to civic learning—something CSM has always understood.

Democracy depends on human capacities, on our ability to think critically about what we encounter, to connect across differences, and to solve problems together. Digital literacy relies on these same skills, and on knowing how to use them with discernment. When we spoke recently with Eisha Buch, CSM’s Head of Teaching and Learning, she summed it up neatly: “Students need the ability to navigate digital environments critically, because that’s where civic life actually plays out. You can’t fully participate in civic life today without digital literacy—the ability to engage with those spaces responsibly, safely, and meaningfully. And that’s the lens our curriculum brings to the topic.”

The term ‘digital literacy’ is often misunderstood or underestimated as being about devices, screen time, apps, or connectivity. Buch is accustomed to putting this in a broader context: “Digital literacy is about being equipped to thrive in a world filled with technology, whether you’re explicitly using it in a given moment or not. Our goal is to develop civic engagement and dispositions that are essential to developing healthy kids and a healthy democracy.” She elaborates, “We believe it’s more important than ever to teach students how to intentionally step away from devices and invest in the human stuff—building community, trust, and connection among peers and with the teachers in their lives.”

Read reflections from educators who use CSM’s materials in their classrooms: 

It bears noting that CSM’s forward thinking predates the ubiquity of cell phones, the pressures of social media, and the controversies of AI. Since the early days of the internet, CSM has been an articulate voice of reason for making the digital world safer and better for kids, advocating for better regulations, policies, and products. CSM has evolved with the digital landscape, and today is a trusted resource for 1.5 million educators across two-thirds of U.S. schools serving grades K–12.

By 2024, CSM was ready to roll out the updated program at full-strength. Koret is proud to have extended our support, allowing for the addition of a Bay Area regional education manager to the team. In the 2025–26 school year, more than 20,000 Bay Area schools utilized the curriculum.

As CSM’s regional education manager for the Bay Area, Jamie Nuñez reaches out to K–12 educators every day—in person, on the phone, via email—to cultivate what he calls ‘practical relationships’ with teachers and administrators eager to help their students “develop the mindset to participate in civic life in meaningful ways, ways that support their overall goals and values.”  Nuñez’s perspective is very big picture, and his expertise is in high demand. In the 2025–26 school year, he directly trained 3,700 Bay Area educators—more than twice as many as he’d trained in 2024–25. He conducts professional development workshops, and is invited to participate in teacher listening sessions and learning network meetings. Nuñez is inspired by the first-hand experiences, creativity, and dedication that educators bring to their classrooms. He enthuses, “I work to build deeper connections with educators by trying to empower them to highlight their work—inviting them to share their approach to civic education with other teachers and administrators, or asking librarians to co-present at a conference with CSM.”

The digital landscape is constantly shifting, and the pace is particularly challenging for teachers of civics and social studies, who cannot ignore the never-ending onslaught of information coming in. As Buch puts it, “These trends enter the classroom whether teachers are ready or not, through kid chatter, through distractions, through the questions students are asking. So staying informed is important, and we help support that through our weekly educator newsletter and social media postings. The goal is that a teacher sees something in their inbox on a Tuesday, and has something they can do to connect with their kids on the topic the very next day.” The CSM team is nimble, intent on being responsive in real time.

CSM is also working to co-develop materials and resources with iCivics and other civic learning organizations, to increase awareness and offer educators and families more support. In May 2026, CSM and iCivics (also a Koret grantee) co-presented a timely webinar, “Still Human: Educating for Democracy in the Age of AI.” Eisha Bush and Emma Humphries, Chief Education Officer at iCivics, discussed the human capacities that democracy depends on, what technology is putting at risk, and what educators can do right now to protect and support their students. 

CSM’s training-the-trainers approach is a triple win for schools: Teachers—not only of social studies and civics—are empowered to model an open-minded spirit of discerning inquiry and facilitate respectful discussions on pressing topics. Students learn skills essential to both digital literacy and civic life: slowing down before reacting, seeking facts and evidence, and exploring multiple perspectives. And a media literacy ecosystem is coalescing to prepare students and support their teachers. In the country’s 250th anniversary year, CSM’s mission is truly exciting, timely, and optimistic.