Across the country, citizens are celebrating access to public information during Sunshine Week, March 13-19. The goal of Sunshine Week is to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Here are just a few highlights of Sunshine Week planned during the week all over the country:

• On March 12, the Chicago Headline Club, Loyola University Chicago and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation are hosting the fourth annual FOIA Fest at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. More information registering for the event is available at their website.
• From March 14-18, Orbit Media is hosting Sunshine Week events in New Concord, Ohio throughout the week. Events are open to all students. More information on times and locations are available on the Orbit Media website.
• On March 15, the Department of Commerce and Census Bureau kick off Sunshine Week in Washington D.C. More information and registration to the free event are here.
• Also on March 15, the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs host a debate on whether the push for transparency is hurting lawmakers’ ability to reach agreement on policies. The event is free and will be livestreamed at RJI Online. For more information on registration, check out RJI’s website.

Started by the American Society of News Editors in 2005, Sunshine Week provides a great opportunity for educators to address the Freedom of Information Act, Sunshine Laws, open government and watchdog journalism in the classroom.

For a larger list of Sunshine Week events, visit SunshineWeek.org.  Don’t forget to like Sunshine Week on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for updates throughout the week. Use the hashtag #SunshineWeek when posting throughout the week to follow along with events across the nation.

Is your school participating in Sunshine Week? Send your school’s name to [email protected]. For a full of list of participating schools, check out SunshineWeek.org.

SchoolJournalism.org provides numerous lesson plans and resources for classroom activities during Sunshine Week. Teachers can also find resources and a free toolkit for student media and classroom use at SunshineWeek.org.