The San Bernardino Citizen Academy (SBCA) is dedicated to educating citizens about how city government works, who the council members are and how City Hall makes decisions.  Participants get to meet every department head, elected officials and the people behind the scenes who make the city work.

Victor Wong – an exemplary volunteer – teaches citizenship classes at the City of Cupertino’s Senior Center operated by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. These classes enroll legal permanent residents over the age of fifty who are eligible to apply for naturalization. The eight-week course covers United States History, salient aspects of the US Constitution, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States of America. The class also features guest speakers from the regional offices of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Citizenship.

The City of Oakland has offered a citizen academy for the past 10 years. Silvia San Miguel has managed the program out of the city’s Equal Access Office since 2005. As her office provides translation services to all city departments and residents, San Miguel has attempted in the past few years to organize a Chinese and Spanish language version of the course.