Webinar for Educators: How to Get Involved with 'The 1619 Project' Education Network

On Thursday, February 4, 2021, over 200 educators joined the Pulitzer Center education team for a Zoom webinar that introduce The 1619 Project Education Network, an initiative geared towards establishing a cohort of 40 education professionals who will receive grants of $5,000 each to support exploration of key questions of racial justice and other issues in a community that also includes award-winning journalists and the Pulitzer Center Education team. 

Led by Fareed Mostoufi, Associate Director of Education, and Jaya Mukherjee, Education Coordinator, the webinar explored content from The 1619 Project, curricular resources developed by the Center to support the project, and examples of how educators nationwide have engaged with the Project. Mostoufi and Mukherjee then outlined the goals and requirements for The 1619 Project Education Network and responded to participants’ questions.

Participants and registrants--hailing from California to the District of Columbia--included educators from preschool to high school and beyond. Attendees also included university and community college professors, as well as and teachers for adult learners. Several journalists and education researchers were also in attendance. This diversity reflects the ethos of the The 1619 Project Education Network, which is accepting applications from education professionals working in independent and public school districts as well as in jails, prisons, and youth detention facilities. 

The session began with an introduction to The 1619 Project, a journalistic, educational, and creative endeavor led by Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times Magazine. The project considers what it would mean to reframe 1619, the year that the Atlantic slave trade first brought African slaves to Virginia, as foundational for American history. 

The Center invited participants to consider the mission of The 1619 Project in the context of their lives as learners and educators. Mostoufi and Mukherjee then connected topics covered in 1619 Project essays to educational resources that have been created by the Pulitzer Center, including:

• Evaluating and Reshaping Timelines for The 1619 Project, New York Times for Kids Edition
• Exploring “The Idea of America” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
• Exploring the Legacy of Slavery in Mass Incarceration
• Activities to Extend Student Engagement

For all curricular resources connected to The 1619 Project, visit www.pulitzercenter.org/1619.

Towards the latter half of the session, the Center introduced The 1619 Project Education Network as an opportunity for educators to explore ways to implement curricula from The 1619 Project into their classrooms and develop media literacy skills for their students--and to do so in community with each other. 

After breaking down the structure planned for the upcoming cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network, including application and network timelines, Mostoufi and Mukherjee closed the session with a detailed discussion of participant questions, and inviting the group to attend upcoming events that provide more information about past implementations of 1619 Project curricula and the work of teaching Black history to elementary and middle school students. 

“The moderators were very engaging and the materials/resources [were[ presented with practical ways to integrate into curricula,” wrote one educator in a post-webinar survey.

“I enjoyed how well prepared the presenters were and how they presented examples of how the curriculum offerings were being used at different grade levels,” another added.

The Pulitzer Center invites educators to view the webinar at their convenience, and to consider ways that they can implement curricular materials from The 1619 Project in their classrooms and with their students. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to connect with us to discuss more ways to become involved with The 1619 Project Education Network. 

Are you interested in applying to be a part of The 1619 Project Education Network? Applications close on March 15th, 2021. Click here to apply!