Remember when the start of the school year was filled with the anticipation of new faces, new classes, new colleagues, new schools, and new challenges for social studies educators? Remember when we've looked at our class rosters and wondered who the students were, where they were coming from, what their stories were, and most importantly how we were going to greet them on that very first day of school? Remember when you might have had a twinge of nervousness as well as familiarity, if you are an experienced educator like myself, as the students came into class for the first time? Remember when back in the fall of 2019 all things were possible and none of what we are facing today even seemed on the horizon?

Yet here we are at the start of the school year 2021 and once again we are faced with dilemmas and challenges no one saw back in 2019. For some of our fellow educators, they are returning to classrooms as they did in 2019, with little change in what the average classroom looks like. For others, there is the uncertainty of greeting students who may or who may not be wearing masks, while the teachers themselves may or may not be wearing masks. Some of us are teaching in states that have recently passed legislation that impacts what we can, and what we cannot teach in our classrooms. Others work in school districts where local boards of education have passed similar restrictions. Some educators enter the school year under no such restrictions and are free to teach what is best for the students in their classroom, celebrating academic freedom. Remember when the teaching of social studies was not so controversial and not so prevalently in the news?

Remember when those who have attended the past conferences of the National Council for the Social Studies would gather with thousands of like-minded individuals in one place? Remember when at those conferences we would hear from educators sharing their best lessons and techniques for teaching social studies? Remember when we could hear keynote speakers such as the late John Lewis, Ken Burns, the late Sandra Day O'Connor, Pete Souza, Peter Sagal, and Alex Wagner? Remember meeting and reacquainting yourself with colleagues from across the country who all share the same passion for social studies as you do? Like many of you, I remember all of it and miss it.

I looked forward with enormous anticipation to the 101st NCSS Annual Conference, Solidarity in Social Studies, this November in Minneapolis. Our conference collaborators at the National Council for Geographic Education, the American Bar Association’s Division for Public Education, and especially the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, have been working tirelessly to prepare a provide a spectacular event for you, the largest gathering of social studies educators, administrators, and professional colleagues nationwide. Because of the ongoing situation regarding COVID-19, the decision was made to move the conference to a virtual format this November 15-21, 2021. This was not an easy decision. Yet the NCSS Board of Directors, Executive Director Dr. Lawrence Paska, and I all feel that it is the right decision to make. Solidarity in Social Studies will look different than first anticipated but rest assured that the conference will provide each of you with wonderful opportunities for professional development, diverse speakers, and the ability to connect once again with your colleagues across the country. When available, please take the opportunity and sign up for the conference and take part in the largest annual gathering of social studies teachers. Now more than ever, social studies teachers need each other in support and professional development. 

Social studies educators have weathered difficult times in their classroom in the past and will undoubtedly face new challenges in the future. Whether it is what we can or cannot teach in the classroom, teaching our students in a virtual format, from behind masks and socially distant, or something that was not anticipated at all such as natural disasters. As one of the leaders of the Polish Solidarność movement, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa said, “It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.” It is the very nature of our profession that we oftentimes find ourselves in situations that we did not anticipate, and yet time and time again social studies educators have risen to the challenge and flourished. We are continuing to do so in 2021. Let us meet virtually in November to share our stories where we overcame and stood together in solidarity for our students. Have a fantastic start to the school year, be safe, be kind, take care of yourself and take care of your students!