We are living through an important and unique time in history - the COVID-19 pandemic. Years from now, historians will learn from the experiences of people who went through it - people like you and your family. I'm inviting you to document your experiences as part of a living history project.

Many kids and teachers are keeping journals and writing about their experiences. I want to support this and provide ideas for how kids can document their experiences in ways that are empowering and positive. While this is a time of uncertainty and unease, it is also a period that is important and that will long be remembered. You are part of history; and your stories matter.

I want you to choose 1 of the 4 possible project ideas.

We've spent our school year trying to make history meaningful to us, and to elementary students who would be the recipients of our e-Textbook. We read and researched events and people in history and then used our own voices and sketches and skills to tell those stories in our own way. THAT is what makes history so cool and meaningful, in my opinion. It's the stories from real people. It's the ability to give a voice to the voiceless and stand up for those who may or may not have been able to do it for themselves. Again, I am calling on you to use your voice to "make history."

Have fun with this project and make it meaningful to you. If it isn't interesting and exciting for you to create, then it probably won't come off that way to the audience. I challenge you to really dig into what's happening right now. Examine it from a different lens, tell it from a different person's point of view, explain it through a song or a comic, or a news story.