Election 2020: Empower Students to Join the National Conversation from Remote and In-Person Classrooms

Presented by Teresa Wierzbianska, Student Media Program Manager, KQED Education; and Nicole Pfaff, Sophomore and Senior English Teacher, Notre Dame High School, CA
Hosted by Rachel Roberson, Program Manager, Humanities Professional Learning, KQED Education

Sponsored by KQED Education

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Want to engage your students around Election 2020 but don’t know where to start? Bring student voice and choice into your in-person or distance-learning classroom with a standards-aligned media-making project.

The KQED Youth Media Challenge: Let’s Talk About Election 2020, co-created with the National Writing Project and PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, asks students to research and create a personal audio or video commentary on an issue that matters to them. The program is free for schools, educators and students.

In this edWebinar, educators will learn about the student impact of the media challenge from a high school educator and have the opportunity to explore implementation ideas and strategies for teachers to use with students. The project is designed for grades 6-12 and is a powerful, self-directed learning, project-based learning opportunity. The recorded edWebinar will also introduce free PD resources that support teachers in developing digital media literacy skills.

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to middle and high school teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders.

About the Presenters

Teresa Wierzbianska is KQED’s Program Manager of Student Media. She worked as a public-school middle-grade educator teaching journalism, digital media, and English in South Los Angeles. Previously she was a public media reporter and producer working along with West Coast of the United States, from California to Alaska. Currently, she’s helping create student media resources at KQED Education.

With 15 years of classroom experience, Nicole Pfaff teaches both sophomore and senior English classes at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, California. She holds the distinction of being a certified PBS Media Literacy Educator and is pursuing National Board certification. Nicole also volunteered with 826 Valencia and the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation. She loves to travel and spoil her three cats and husband.

About the Host

Rachel Roberson is KQED’s Program Manager for Humanities Professional Learning and works to connect teachers, classrooms and districts to KQED’s education resources. Previously, she was a reading, writing and social studies teacher leader on three continents, having served on the founding staff of KIPP Bayview Academy in San Francisco, California before moving schools to Abu Dhabi and Austin, Texas. She started her teaching career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. Before becoming a teacher, Rachel worked as a journalist in the East Bay.

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KQED supports educators in using public media in formal and informal learning environments. With a focus on amplifying youth voice, making media, civic participation, and richer learning, we provide free standards-aligned content and resources educators can trust.