Active Citizenship Today students in Los Angeles identified deteriorating campus conditions as a problem, researched the prior existence of a Japanese garden on the campus that had been destroyed by anti-Japanese sentiment during WWII. The students enlisted the support of local contractors, designers, and neighborhood volunteers to rebuild the garden as a gesture of solidarity with the school's history and with people of all cultures and backgrounds.

In government classes, ACT students in Jefferson County, Colorado identified school violence as an issue. They researched the problem of violence, hosted a community debate, invited community leaders, and designed an outreach campaign to involve students and community members in a debate about gun control. As a follow-up, the ACT students set up focus groups to address school violence and gun control issues with local government, businesses, and community leaders. "Through ACT," said one participating teacher, "the students enjoyed a hands-on experience unequaled in any textbook."

Middle-school ACT students in Omaha, Nebraska identified illiteracy as a problem they could address. To research the problem, they invited outside resource persons (ORPs), including a state senator, to explain the nature of the problem and how public policy both fails and succeeds in addressing it. A local journalist talked about the connection between literacy, the media, and the need for an informed public. After gathering information, they organized a book drive and distributed books to homeless shelters and the local literacy council. They set up a mentoring program with a local elementary school and arranged to record themselves reading books on tape to a children's hospital and a series of homeless shelters.