Louisiana
Academy of the Sacred Heart and Xavier University of New Orleans are excited to collaborate on Elevating Voices and Building Community through Primary Sources and Our Shared History, a project funded by a grant awarded by the TPS Southern Region.
The project aims to bring a greater awareness to the importance and value of primary sources as well as provide resources and tools to incorporate primary sources into the classroom for any subject and for any grade level. Similar to Dr. Carla Hayden’s wish for a primary source in every American’s hands, a primary source in the hands of every student and educator in New Orleans will allow for the elevation of underrepresented voices to share the stories of our community. Library of Congress primary sources will be paired with local primary sources from the Xavier University Archives and from the Historic New Orleans Collection to show how stories can be told differently, to demonstrate varying points of view, and to allow students and educators to contextualize sources and evaluate for bias, encouraging critical thought.
Elementary students from Sacred Heart will collaborate with college students from Xavier University to develop and test curriculum that will bring history to life through the incorporation and contextualization of primary sources. By implementing and sharing different primary source analysis strategies, the project will reach students with different learning styles and backgrounds.
As a result of these conversations and collaborations, students will help design and build a Teaching with Primary Sources Toolkit that will include primary sources from both the Library of Congress and Xavier University Archives and the analysis strategies and tools developed through the collaboration. The Toolkit will be shared “bookmobile style” with other schools and educators through presentations to educators in New Orleans and at the Louisiana Library Association conference.
KID smART, a cornerstone of New Orleans education for 26 years, is embarking on an innovative project that builds on our successful AXIS program. Through our new Everyday People Small Learning Groups initiative, we're combining our proven arts integration expertise with Library of Congress primary sources to create a powerful new approach to teaching and learning. KID smART currently enriches the educational experience of over 3,200 students and 200 educators across 14 schools. This new project addresses critical post-pandemic challenges in K-8 education, using arts-integrated strategies to strengthen human connection, deepen historical understanding, and enhance civic engagement. Our track record speaks for itself: 95% of educators report improved classroom community, and 100% observe increased student engagement through our methods. By weaving together arts integration, primary source analysis, and social-emotional learning, we're creating a model that makes history come alive while building stronger, more connected learning communities in New Orleans schools.