Civics leader receives award from ABA

The American Bar Association today honored longtime Pennsylvania civics leader David Keller Trevaskis with its Isidore Starr Award for Excellence in Law-Related Education. 
The award, which recognizes individuals for outstanding achievements in teaching about the law in the elementary and secondary grades, was presented Oct. 30 during the 2015 National Law-Related Education Conference in Philadelphia.

“David has made tremendous contributions to the profession and has shown a dedication for law-related education over his career,” said Harry Johnson, chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Public Education. Trevaskis is the pro bono coordinator of Legal Services for the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the director of LEAP-Kids (Law, Education and Peace for Kids). He currently serves as president of the Pennsylvania Council for the Social Studies, as well as an adjunct professor of education and law at Arcadia University.

An attorney and former third grade teacher, Trevaskis has been a champion for nonviolence and an advocate for education and social justice for more than 40 years. He is the designer and original trainer for Project PEACE (Peaceful Endings through Authorities, Children and Educators), a peer mediation, anti-bullying and youth court program.
Trevaskis also contributed his expertise on school law and school crisis as co-author of the 2014 book, “School Law: Legal Framework, Guiding Principles and Litigated Areas.” In 2015, he was recognized as the “Most Valuable Peacemaker” by the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators.

In her nomination testimony, Nycole Watson, co-chair of Advancing Civics Education at the Philadelphia Bar Association said of Trevaskis, “His ability to motivate and organize others through the creation of summer law-related education programs and formation of youth courts in poverty-stricken areas of Pennsylvania has transformed the public perception of the role of the legal profession in elementary and secondary civic education.”

Trevaskis is a graduate of Duke University and Temple University School of Law.