Brookline, MA (July 3, 2007) - Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational and professional development organization headquartered in Brookline, MA, announces the beginning of the Digital Legacies Project. During July and August, students from the Boston Public High Schools will participate in an in-depth study of local and national civil rights history, documenting their experiences by using video and web production skills that they learn throughout the program.

The Digital Legacies project is a part of the Facing History and Ourselves/ Boston Public School Technology Collaborative; a 2-½ year initiative to improve technology literacy, historical understanding, and academic engagement in the Boston Public Schools. In addition to the student-focused Digital Legacies Project, this multifaceted initiative includes professional development and on-going support for teachers, a newly developed civil rights curriculum and new resources for the 10^th grade BPS students and, thanks to a partnership with the Pearson Education Foundation and a donation from Fujitsu, new computer labs and additional technology resources for teachers and students.

The Digital Legacies Project runs for 4 weeks, beginning the second week of July. During this time, students will have the opportunity to explore the legacy of the civil rights movement as they receive in-depth training in web design, video production, and interviewing. Students will work with local activists and residents from the civil rights era to learn and record their personal stories. By combining history and technology, students will connect the past to their own lives through personal experience and contemporary media tools, and build upon their social awareness and media literacy. The outcome will be a series of short documentary-style films that will be available on the Facing History and Ourselves website, and will be featured during the Choosing to Participate exhibition that will be held at the Boston Public Library, January - May 2008. Facing History and Ourselves will also incorporate this work into the new civil rights curriculum that is being developed for the 10^th grade in the Boston Public Schools.

Based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. For more information please visit www.facinghistory.org [1].

Press inquiries contact:
Caitlin Meyer [2]
617-735-1641

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