As 2024 comes to a close, I hope you’re preparing to take some much-needed time to rest, relax, and re-energize yourself over the holidays. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably feeling—dare I say it?—a tiny bit exhausted and ready for a break. With political polarization and hate-fueled discourse on the rise, some days it can be tough to read the news and feel like there are things to feel uplifted and inspired about. Despite these challenges, I urge you to keep your chin up and remember that as leaders in the educational space we have the privilege of setting an example for those around us. We have the opportunity to push through adversity, to have difficult conversations about the issues that matter, and to make impactful connections in our communities.
With that in mind, I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the exceptional work that we accomplished here at Facing History & Ourselves over the past year.
Professional Development Opportunities
Each month, Facing History staff facilitates both in-person and online events to help support educators across the nation—with more than 10,000 attendees taking part in 2024. In the spring, Dr. Diana Hess joined us to explore Teaching Controversial Issues in Polarized Times. In June, we launched new professional development opportunities in support of our US History Collection. In September, we hosted a panel featuring brave students and educators who are Building Bridges in the Fight Against Hate.
We connected two esteemed superintendents and policy leaders for a conversation around building positive culture for school leaders, while distinguished academic Dr. Carol Anderson led a fascinating seminar on the tumultuous history of American voting rights. Even the Facing History Office of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging got involved, with Dr. Steven Becton hosting an insightful session on what it truly means to be an equity-focused educator.
And the very best part? Our On-Demand Library means that teachers and school leaders always have access to professional development opportunities when it best fits their busy schedules.
Educator Impact
In 2024, we launched new initiatives and curriculum resources to support classroom educators. In partnership with our Board of Scholars and other experts in the field, we developed and launched a new civics curriculum essential to building the next generation of engaged and responsible citizens. This groundbreaking approach covers topics like media literacy, fostering civil discourse in the classroom, and the importance of a healthy democracy.
Our Contemporary Antisemitism team was hard at work responding to rising incidents of hate, publishing powerful resources including an Antisemitic Conflation Lesson and materials that challenge stereotypes and tropes by celebrating the diversity, joy, and complexity of Jewish identity.
The ELA team published compelling materials including the Borders & Belonging Collection and a new All Community Read guide for middle and high schoolers that features esteemed authors including Jennifer De Leon.
And to top it all off, our network continues to grow! In 2024 alone, our Resource Library was visited by over four million unique users with tens of thousands saving our materials to their personal accounts—and even directly to Google Classroom.
Conferences and Events
We feel lucky to have been able to spend so much time this year hosting events and attending conferences where we had a chance to connect with our community. From moving speakers to inspirational educators and students, 2024 was a year of forging new relationships and strengthening bonds with longtime supporters and colleagues.
In February, our 10th annual Rachel Shankman Symposium in Memphis screened the powerful Holocaust documentary UnBroken, highlighting stories of resilience to inspire hope and model standing up to contemporary antisemitism. In April, our New York Benefit featured a poignant keynote address from Board of Scholars member Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries—as well as Iaughs from comedian Seth Meyers. In August, we held an intimate gathering on Martha's Vineyard that exemplified the power of cross regional partnership and volunteerism.
On the conference front, Facing History had the chance to return to NCTE and NCSS this year on our home turf in Boston. We almost tripled the number of educators we connected with at NCTE compared to 2023, facilitated an interactive session on elevating student voices, and held our first-ever (and wildly successful!) book signing event.
At NCSS, we sponsored a keynote and book signing with Michael Patrick MacDonald and delivered two staff-led sessions (on Boston’s busing history and civics). We also joined the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation and partner org Echoes & Reflections for a session that discussed how to foster historical awareness and critical thinking among students while equipping educators with groundbreaking tools for Holocaust curricula.
Growth & Engagement
An important focus for Facing History in 2024—and beyond—has been expanding our work with schools and districts to scale our impact across the country. After years of collaboration we executed a new partnership with New York City Public Schools, the largest public school district in the country. We're deeply excited to be reaching so many new school leaders, educators, and students with our evidence-based pedagogical approach.
In addition to New York City and many other new districts, we were especially proud of the work we accomplished in helping Palm Beach County, Florida to adopt Facing History curriculum. Shifting political climates and new legislation have brought fresh challenges to our work of supporting teachers in the classroom, but we found innovative ways for educators to teach sensitive content while fitting into district goals and inspiring students to think critically about their responsibility to be productive and civic-minded members of society.
Student Impact
Most importantly, I’d like to spotlight those whom all this work is fundamentally meant to impact: our young people. We aren’t accomplishing our mission if we aren’t having a positive effect on the hearts and minds of our youth, which is why we love that the students who experience Facing History in their schools routinely describe the amazing ways that their perspectives and worldviews have been impacted.
This year we were grateful to celebrate so many upstanders and to have alumni share their Facing History stories. Our California Partner School Network is full of incredible young people building empathetic and inclusive spaces in their classrooms and communities. Deztinee, who got involved with Facing History in her hometown of Chicago, wrote a beautiful piece detailing how her personal journey with our curriculum turned her from a teenager angry at systemic inequalities into a civically-engaged advocate for democracy and change. Ethan from Memphis, Tennessee even explained how his involvement with Facing History in middle and high school still influences him in his current career in the tech industry.
We’re inspired and uplifted by Facing History students every single day—it makes all the hard work worthwhile.
You may be asking yourself how we were able to do so much in just one year, which means I must happily inform you that what I listed above barely scratches the surface of our work. No matter what’s happening in the world, you can rest assured that Facing History is committed to supporting schools, educators, and students to create a future free of hate.
With that in mind, I wish you a peaceful and reflective end to your year. We can’t wait to pick up where we left off in 2025.
About the Author. Desmond K. Blackburn, PhD is President and Chief Executive Officer at Facing History & Ourselves, a national nonprofit organization that works with school systems to use lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. He has spent nearly 30 years as a career educator (teacher, principal, superintendent, adjunct professor, author). To find out how Dr. Blackburn and the Facing History team can support you, reach out to support [at] facinghistory.org.
