Project REAL's unique activities and educational resources engage Nevada's students in critical thinking about citizenship, selfless action, democracy and the law, helping them to achieve REAL excellence.

Our Sequential Education Program helps to ensure that Nevada is populated by residents who respect the law and contribute to their community - people who work to create an environment they are proud to live in and call their own.

By fostering actions of mutual respect and selflessness, and by encouraging commitments to local communities, we contribute to a safer and more prosperous Nevada for us all.

We currently serve grades 3-12 with at least one unique law and civics related experience for each grade level. All of our activities are valuable on their own, but when received annually and sequentially they have a significantly greater impact on the students being served. As part of our ongoing efforts to expand and evolve our organization, we plan to eventually offer a full 13-year program of annual educational experiences for students in grades K-12.

In the fall of 2004, Las Vegas-based attorney Sam Lionel and development magnate Irwin Molasky were discussing what they saw as a troubling trend: Nevada's youth engaging in increased amounts of criminal activity, and failing to show respect for the law. Throughout their discussion, Sam and Irwin kept returning to the fact that many of Nevada's youngest criminal offenders had seemed oblivious to the laws they were charged with violating. By December of that year, the two philanthropists had joined together as founders of The Foundation for Relevant Education About the Law – an organization that would be renamed as ‘Project REAL' just a few weeks later.

In its first five years, Project REAL served Nevada by providing two law-related-education activities that Sam and Irwin had learned were being used with great success in other parts of the country.  The first of these was called Your Day in Court – a courthouse tour that introduced students to courthouse staff, and occasionally provided them chances to see live court in action.  

The second activity was called Play By the Rules - a book and series of activities licensed from the Alabama Center for Civic Education.  The center in Alabama took a publication they distributed that taught 200 of Alabama's laws and the consequences of breaking them, and created a version that was specific to the laws of Nevada.  This program was designed as a 10-15 day experience for middle school students.

Project REAL's Play By the Rules and Your Day in Court met with immediate success, with field trip schedules and spots in Play By the Rules teacher-trainings both filling up quickly.  Over time, that success allowed Project REAL to use evidence-based methods to expand and improve upon the resources it provides in Nevada. 

Today, those resources are part of a carefully-designed and highly effective sequential education program.  The sequence provided by Project REAL works to provide at least one law related education experience each year to Nevada's students during their K-12 education.  Currently, a student can have one unique experience a year from Project REAL from third grade all the way through grade 12. 

Samuel and Irwin envisioned Project REAL as an organization that would provide the foundation to foster a community of lawful and responsible young citizens, and in turn, a prosperous Nevada and safer communities for us all.  We are happy to carry on the legacy of the work they started, and continue to contribute to a safer and more engaged Nevada to this very day.