Save the Date! Our keynote speaker for our 39th Annual CCSS Conference is Neil Halloran!

 

Learn more about Neil here along with his data-driven documentaries!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conference Theme: Every number tells a story. Behind every statistic is a person. Behind every map is a community. Behind every graph, timeline, election result, census record, or demographic shift are human experiences that help us understand our past, make sense of our present, and imagine our future. As social studies educators, we have the unique responsibility of helping students uncover those stories.

In a world increasingly shaped by data, information, and competing narratives, our students need more than the ability to find facts. They need to ask meaningful questions, analyze evidence, recognize patterns, consider context, evaluate claims, and determine what information can, and cannot, tell us. Most importantly, they need opportunities to connect evidence to the people and experiences behind it. Data becomes meaningful when we understand the stories it represents.

The theme of this year’s CCSS Annual Conference, Every Number Tells a Story, invites Colorado social studies educators to explore the intersection of evidence, inquiry, and storytelling. How can we help students move beyond simply reading a graph or memorizing a statistic to asking why it matters? How can maps, primary sources, demographic data, visualizations, and other forms of evidence reveal stories that might otherwise remain hidden? How can storytelling help students understand complex issues, consider multiple perspectives, and make connections across time and place?

At the center of this work is a fundamental goal of social studies education: helping students make meaning from evidence. Sessions at this year’s conference will explore innovative practices across history, civics, geography, economics, and the broader social sciences, including approaches to inquiry, primary sources, data literacy, storytelling, disciplinary literacy, media literacy, technology, and student voice.

We hope you will join social studies educators from across Colorado as we explore the stories hidden within the evidence, consider new ways to engage our students, and strengthen the teaching and learning of social studies across our state.

 

Submit your session proposal here by October 31, 2026.