Welcome! The Long Island Writing Project is proud to share the work we embarked on in this 2022-2023 school year. A team of educators, spanning elementary school through college, came together to explore (through courageous conversations and writing) identity, history and equity. This initiative was a collaboration between the Long Island Writing Project and The Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center as well as the Anti-Racism Project . Funded by a grant from the National Writing Project and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the central goal was to create a year-long professional development project with a multitude of programming events with local communities that explore the immigrant experience and our shared history. 

The first part of this experience began when the team of educators engaged in reading, writing, thinking and articulating ways to tell their own stories, own histories, while considering their identity, memories, and experiences related to their place in the United States during the month of July 2022. The work that has followed included multiple opportunities to network with colleagues, attend and participate in asynchronous and synchronous activities to further develop curriculum resources, engage in writing and publish student writing. Using their collective resources and assets in working with underserved communities, the group will work with local communities to create, gather, and share their stories using the humanities based resources of both the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center and the Anti-Racism Project. 

Our grant work culminated in a day of celebration and the publication of our Digital Anthology on Friday, March 31, 2023. Poet Laureate Richard Blanco was our keynote presenter and the day included a panel discussion from the educators who took part in the grant. An open mic writing celebration closed out our conference, with audience members and grant participants both sharing heartfelt writing. 

We hope the writing, lessons, and resources we share will benefit other educators and communities of students.