Design an oral history project that engages older members of your family or community in reconstructing a typical school day in their elementary school years. Focus your questions to evoke stories and vivid descriptions.

Research the history of education in your own town, city, or county in the past 50 years. How have demographic, political, or economic trends influenced the patterns of growth and change in schools? Do these mirror broader national trends? How so?

Write a thank-you letter to a teacher who has had a positive influence on your life. Include specific memories of classes or conversations or personal encouragement. Send it if you wish.

Many powerful writings have emerged from enforced confinement in a concentration camp, prison, hospital room, or even a "furnace closet" at school. Sometimes enforced isolation can lead to transformation, through imaginative thinking, reflection, or decisions. Write a...