Becoming the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court was enough to make Justice Sandra Day O'Connor a household name, but it was the work she did when she stepped down from the bench that the late justice said would be her greatest legacy.
"Justice O'Connor often says iCivics was her greatest legacy. And that's really hard to believe, right? Because she was the first woman on the court, she did so many incredible things for the country. But that she felt like this is her greatest legacy is a real honor," explains iCivics CEO Louise Dube.
In 2009, Justice O'Connor founded iCivics, a non-profit with the ultimate goal of bringing civic education into classrooms across the nation. Using free online games to teach students the basics of government, iCivics is now the largest civic education provided in the entire country, according to Dube.
When Justice O'Connor interviewed and then hired Dube, she tasked her with bringing iCivics into every state across the country - a goal that has now been accomplished.
"She was prescient in her vision for the importance of civic education to the nation, to secure our country, to secure our unity."
iCivics is now used by nine million students and more than 145,000 educators across the country.
"It is incredibly important for citizens of the United States to understand how our system works and how it depends on individuals knowing how the system works," explains Dube. "For us to be able to reap the benefits of being a strong country in which people feel a sense of community and identity, the American identity, we need to learn that knowledge, those skills, and then we need to get involved in the process, because this is after all, self-government, right? So it is of the people, by the people."
Instead of flowers, Justice O'Connor's family has asked for people to donate to iCivics to keep the program running strong. For a link, click here.
