Cyndy is a Dana Professor at Ithaca College, teaching developmental psychology and media literacy for over 35 years. She is the co-author of The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy (with Faith Rogow) and Teaching Students to Decode the World (with Chris Sperry). Cyndy was a founding board member of the National Association for Media Literacy Education and is a contributing editor to Project Look Sharp curricula. She has given hundreds of media literacy workshops and keynotes around the world and is the creator of the online course Empowering All Students Through Media Decoding . Cyndy received her Ph.D. in Human Development (1987) from Cornell University. In October of 2024, Cyndy received the prestigious Elizabeth Thoman Service Award from the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).

Chris taught middle and high school social studies, English, and media studies for over 40 years at the Lehman Alternative Community School in Ithaca, New York where he integrated student-centered, question-based, curriculum-driven media decoding into his work with students and colleagues. At Project Look Sharp, Chris codified the methodology of “Constructivist Media Decoding” and has produced nearly all of PLS’s 900+ media decoding lessons. He is co-author (with Cyndy Scheibe) of the 2022 book Teaching Students to Decode the World . Chris has delivered hundreds of professional development workshops around the world and is working closely with extraordinary educators to spread CMD. Chris is the Director of the ML3 Initiative: Librarians as Leaders of Media Literacy that began in 2021 and has trained more than 1,500 school librarians across New York State in CMD. He is also Director of the national ML3 initiative (in partnership with AASL) that was funded through a federal IMLS grant in 2024 to scale up ML3 across the country. Chris is the recipient of the 2005 PTA Leaders in Learning Award for Media Literacy and the 2008 NCSS Award for Global Understanding. He received his undergraduate degree from Ithaca College in 1979 as a Planned Studies major in “Media Literacy,” and earned his Master’s degree from Harvard University with a focus on moral development and democratic education.

Sox began his career as a teacher and curriculum designer for a school devoted to engaging students in critical reflection and action on social issues. He spent the next several decades teaching nonviolence with teens and adults who had been arrested for violence. Sox began curriculum work with PLS in 2004 and is transitioning towards retirement by supporting a new generation of curriculum collaborators at PLS. He is curator of the educational website provensustainable.org — which highlights the wisdom traditions of earth-centered Indigenous and Maroon communities around the world.

Tracy is author of the PLS lesson: College or a Trade: Which is the Right Choice? . She has a long career as a school librarian, including working directly with diverse student populations; providing web, database, automation and collection support to multiple school districts; and automating and modernizing multiple libraries.

Ari is a retired Assistant Professor at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, who has taught courses for the past 30 years in presentations, design, web and Internet of Things technology, video, and National Parks.

She’s interested in promoting critical media literacy and would like to work in journalism, politics, or nonprofit work after graduation.

She is the author of the PLS lesson for early elementary Baby Shark: Introducing Analysis Skills , co-author of the elementary-level Guides to Teaching Challenging Topics Through Media Decoding , and author of the Awareness and Critical Thinking framework. Faith is a curriculum developer, professional development provider, and media literacy strategist, known for creative yet practical approaches to teaching. She is the author of Media Literacy for Young Children (NAEYC, 2022), founding President of NAMLE, a founding editorial board member of the Journal for Media Literacy Education , and co-author of NAMLE’s Core Principles for Media Literacy Education in the U.S. She is also a discussion guide writer with a reputation as a "go to" person for handling controversial topics like racism, social justice, homophobia, human rights abuses, and more. Her favorite discussion prompt for films is: “What did you learn that you wish everybody knew? What would change if everyone knew it?” According to Faith, “The questions reflect my core pedagogy which, like PLS’s, is centered around inquiry and reflection, and connecting insight to action.”

Bridget is an adjunct professor at St. John Fisher University, where she designed and teaches a course based on her book Community Partnerships with School Libraries: Creating Innovative Learning Experiences . Within her district, Bridget helps to lead development of media literacy standards and curriculum integration. You can see a short video about that work here: https://www.lkgeorge.org/academics/ For the past 14 years, she has led a flexible-schedule library program that allows meaningful integration of literacy into classroom work. Bridget actively supports educators in and beyond her district, helping teachers and librarians discover and apply CMD strategies, and witnessing first-hand how this work transforms teaching and student engagement. She’s proud to be part of this movement.

She is the author of the PLS lesson Censoring Seuss: Cancel Culture or Cultural Respect? Susan continues to consult with Project Look Sharp about school librarian preservice education. Susan has been a librarian of one type or another for 51 years. For 28 years she was a school librarian at the Nichols School in Buffalo, NY, serving at various times as Middle School Librarian, Upper School Librarian, and Director of Libraries, as well as Director of Technology and Director of Academic Technology. She has developed and taught graduate courses on collaboration between teacher and librarian, emerging technology for educators, applying web applications to libraries, and differentiated instruction.

Louise is Principal Consultant for The Strategic Learning Group, working with client organizations to extend their reach and impact through online and hybrid education and training. In addition to her work for PLS, Louise has developed online courses and PD for Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Dell, Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas Hospital Association, Unum Insurance, Pitney Bowes, GISC, Harcourt, the Princeton Biofeedback Centre, and the American Management Association (AMA). She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and an ICF Coaching Credential earned in 2017.

Rhys is the founder of The Media Spot (TMS), an organization dedicated to promoting media literacy through integrating collaborative, mindful media making and critical reading of media texts. Primarily in New York City K-12 public schools, TMS specializes in facilitating hands-on video productions designed to help participants critically decode media texts in the process of making decisions on how to express themselves, create an authentic voice, and impact real world audiences. In concert with this direct work with students, Rhys collaborates with K-12 teachers school leaders to weave media literacy into curricula in service of traditional and emerging standards and initiatives, and has developed planning strategies and tools to help schools articulate coherent narratives around vision, mission and culture and track them across content and practice in classrooms. Rhys has also taught graduate-level courses on K-12 Media Literacy at Columbia University Teachers College, been a faculty member at the University of Rhode Islands Summer Institute in Digital Literacy and the Salzburg Academy for Media and Global Change. He has served on the Executive Board of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) and the editorial board of the Journal of Media Literacy Education. Rhys holds an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School University and a B.A. in History and Film Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.

This course included three in-person sessions to establish a foundation in CMD work, practice decoding sessions, and share insights and best practices through discussions and self-paced modules. Additionally, she will collaborate with Project Look Sharp on their train-the-trainer module to enable participants to implement CMD in their schools. Leanne also contributed to the development of a Look Sharp lesson on the Harlem Renaissance. “I believe the Constructivist Media Decoding (CMD) is essential for advancing school librarian instruction from a content-focused or how-to approach to one that is student-centered and inquiry-driven. The hybrid course provides librarians with a supportive environment to exchange best practices, strategies, and ideas for diverse student learners and environments. By centering instruction in school library programs, CMD fosters collaborative relationships between librarians and teachers in curriculum design, planning, and delivery.” In addition to her work with Project Look Sharp, Leanne conducts workshops on Media Literacy in collaboration with Common Sense Media and the New York City Public Schools’ Division of Instructional Technology. She has also worked with the News Literacy Project, the Library Ready AI Initiative, and serves on the planning team for the New York State School Library System Association Learning Symposiums, a statewide hybrid professional development day for school librarians and educators. Past symposium topics have included Media Literacy (2023) and AI (2024).

“I was first introduced to Project Look Sharp as an undergraduate student in social studies adolescent education at SUNY Fredonia and have come to embrace the Project Look Sharp philosophy which revolutionized my teaching. I attended Project Look Sharp’s summer training seminar "Constructivist Media Decoding in the Social Studies" in Washington, DC and also completed Look Sharp’s online professional development course titled "Learn to Confidently Facilitate Challenging Topics in the Classroom Using the Skills of Media Literacy." Mary Kate empowers students to critically engage with media and information by making media literacy the heartbeat of her Social Studies curriculum. She has developed and implemented media and digital literacy professional development courses and has presented at conferences from the national to local levels. She is a KQED Media Literacy Innovator and is a faculty member of the Media Education Lab’s Institute in Digital Literacy. She serves as a board member for the Central NY Council for the Social Studies. Mary Kate has written media literacy centered lessons to support Ken Burns' films that have been featured on PBS LearningMedia including Benjamin Franklin and The U.S. and the Holocaust along with other media literacy centered lessons in support of PBS' The Bigger Picture series and other PBS productions.

Aslı is a full-time Professor in the Faculty of Communication, the Department of Communication Sciences at Çukurova University /Turkey. She completed her undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees at Gazi University, Faculty of Communication, Ankara / Turkey. Her research interests lie in media literacy, ecomedia literacy, higher education, new media, network society, communication technologies, social media, and political communication. Her teaching interests include sociology, media and communication studies, and corporate communication. She was the director of the project titled “Social Media Aspects of Institutional Profiles of Universities: Separation of State and Foundation Universities,” supported by TÜBİTAK-SOBAG in 2017, and the project titled "Eastern Mediterranean Region-Osmaniye Province Media Literacy Awareness Project," funded by the US Embassy in 2020. “I was very impressed to learn in detail about CMD, developed by Project Look Sharp, and implemented this technique in different subjects in the curriculum. Taking this method into consideration, I would like to carry out new studies on media literacy in Turkey in collaboration with Project Look Sharp.”

“Reframing my lessons with a constructivist approach has helped transform how my students and I approach media analysis and evaluation in our classroom. I am much more intentional in marrying course content with media literacy questions to foster my students’ critical thinking and reflective practices. Project Look Sharp’s constructivist media decoding pedagogy should be part of every media literacy educator’s tool kit.” Cynthia’s doctoral research centered on integrating media literacy education at the secondary school level. In addition to teaching media literacy in her own classes and collaborating with subject area teachers in her building, Cynthia continues to advocate for media literacy education as a lead educator of the News Literacy Project District Fellowship Program . Cynthia provides workshops and presents locally and nationally about media literacy integration and pedagogy, is co-author of the School Library Systems of NY PreK-12 AI Curriculum , and is excited for her forthcoming book Savvy: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Educators to be published by the Censored Press.”

“I really enjoy bringing real-world examples into my mathematics classes and encouraging my students to always be aware of how mathematics and statistics can be used and mis-used to present data in a variety of ways. Since I started working with Project Look Sharp, I find myself noticing more examples of media bias with data and incorporating these examples into my lessons with students. It is important for our students to be mathematically literate and statistically literate so they can draw their own conclusions when looking at data. It is also important for students, and all citizens, to realize that multiple conclusions can often be drawn from the same set of data, and we all need to be smart consumers of data. Working with Project Look Sharp has been an eye opening experience for me, and it is an honor to be able to create media lessons and share what I have learned with my students.”

Sharon is currently a K-6 librarian in the Newburgh School District. She is best known in the library world for her lesson plan templates . Sharon has presented at NYLA, NYLA/SSL, NYSCATE, multiple BOCES, and at family dinners when information literacy interventions were necessary. Prior to her library life, Sharon was doing marketing and education for a performing arts center. Sharon earned her MSLIS from Syracuse University (2010) and graduated from Binghamton University (2005) where she majored in Creative Writing. “Since my participation with Project Look Sharp began, my teaching has drastically changed to be much more student-centered at its core. Media Literacy lessons have allowed for a much deeper understanding of class material but also of classmates' perspectives. I have had the opportunity to foster a true love of curiosity and information seeking because of PLS's techniques which has transformed my library programming overall. Giving students the skills to decode the information around them makes them much more efficient participants online and much more discerning of which media to share and spread. Being able to write some lessons, especially for early elementary students, has further expanded my own ability to guide others through truly thinking about the media they consume and the reactions they may have towards different messages. I am so honored to be part of PLS, and I am excited to continue to bring these skills to both my students and colleagues.”

“My first exposure to Project Looks Sharp (PLS) was a week-long summer institute in 2013 where I learned the fundamental skills associated with constructivist media decoding. As an 8th-grade social studies and Spanish teacher in Corning, NY, for 8 years I consistently integrated the PLS pedagogy to help students build media literacy skills and habits of mind associated with thoughtful inquiry and informed civic action. In the context of middle school education and professional development with adults, I have consistently seen how PLS pedagogy and resources foster strong-sense critical thinking grounded in deep reflection on bias, blind spots, and credibility. In my classroom, constructivist media decoding and independent research projects related to pressing issues of social justice were the vehicles for participants to build an awareness of meaning-making processes, contribute their own voices to the meaning making process, and seek to understand the diverse perspectives of others. I believe this sort of learning experience is transformative for teachers and students alike because it is truly grounded in inquiry and curiosity, illuminating ways to engage more thoughtfully with the world around us.”

“Project Look Sharp’s work complements the core functions of school library programs. It centers media literacy, the foundation for teaching and learning in the modern age and does so with expertly crafted lesson plans to complement any curriculum. In my practice as an international school librarian, I focused on lessons and activities to help children become wise consumers and producers of information. Project Look Sharp is the ideal partner in this effort. By collaborating with Project Look Sharp, I hope to make more lesson plans on more topics available to educators. Not only does Project Look Sharp support the curriculum, but its methods give students the best possible opportunity to develop critical thinking skills.”

“Since my participation in a Media Literacy Institute 20 years ago, Project Look Sharp has been inspiring and supporting my teaching through numerous workshops and curriculum materials! One of my main goals as a Social Studies teacher is to engage students in learning experiences that help them to become thoughtful and empathetic participants in their communities and the world. Media literacy activities invite students to make meaning of issues and events through analysis and stimulating class discourse. The constructivist approach utilized by Project Look Sharp builds student confidence and validates their insights. I believe media literacy is essential to education in a democratic society. As a Social Studies teacher, I attribute my commitment to media literacy as a key component of the history course I teach to Project Look Sharp. PLS’ curriculum materials help students to deepen their understanding of the complexity of historical events and contemporary issues. I have incorporated media literacy activities into every stage of the learning process including introducing the main ideas of a unit, exploring multiple perspectives on an issue, and assessing students’ ability to use evidence from primary sources. The media literacy activities developed by Project Look Sharp encourage participatory learning and support inquiry and reflection. My involvement with Project Look Sharp as a workshop participant and curriculum writer has enriched my learning and fostered professional friendships that continually challenge my thinking and improve my teaching. If you have the opportunity to attend a workshop offered by Project Look Sharp…do it! And, check out the abundance of curricular materials that are designed to be easy to incorporate into your curriculum. Media literacy activities serve as a catalyst for student engagement, spark in-depth conversations, and nurture critical thinking skills. Students whose educational experience includes media literacy activities will be better prepared to be active and informed participants in society.”

She led her first online course for Long Island school librarians this past winter and looks forward to facilitating future courses. In addition, She has presented at NYSEC (New York State English Council), Long Island Fall Institute, and multiple BOCES presentations in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Paula has proudly served as a middle school librarian in the Uniondale school district since 1998, where she is known for being a leader in media literacy, instructional technology, and reader’s advisory. “I am truly grateful for my collaboration with Project Look Sharp. The training I have received and the connections I have made have been invaluable. It has been so inspiring to learn from Chris Sperry and Cyndy Scheibe, true masters of utilizing media to engage and educate students. My own teaching has become much more intentional, and my lessons have improved exponentially. Students are more engaged, more vocal, and more media-literate than ever before. Students have particularly enjoyed the media literacy lessons I’ve created in recent years: analyzing Instagram ads and creating their own Instagram carousels, analyzing travel commercials and creating their own travel commercial convincing us to vacation to another planet, analyzing PSAs and creating their own PSA on a social issue of their choice, and analyzing book covers in a Blind Date with a Book activity. I have truly loved watching their confidence and creativity increase along with their media literacy and research skills as they worked on these projects. It has been equally rewarding to share these media literacy skills with teachers and librarians and to watch their own enthusiasm for teaching become re-energized as mine has.”

“My passion is to get students to ask questions about what they read and about what is happening in the world around them. Project Look Sharp gave me the skills and language to look at media with a different lens and showed me how interesting and fun and dynamic it is to do this with colleagues and students. Now I am able to use this training and lens to work with teachers in my school to teach students to reflect on what they see and hear and to have strategic questions at the ready when viewing, reading and listening to media. Using what I learned from Project Look Sharp’s workshops and website has enhanced my knowledge about what goes on in the world and sharpened my teaching skills. Because of the skills and knowledge I have gained from Project Look Sharp I am able to engage students and teach them to ask pointed questions about a range of topics we are studying in Elementary school using PLS lessons about the Environment (Throwaway Culture: to Buy or Reuse?) to the Revolutionary War (Phillis Wheatley’s Poem about Freedom and Slavery). Questions that include: Who made this message? Who was this message made for? Who was harmed or helped by this message? Who was left out of this message? Whose stories are included? Whose stories are forgotten? The work that we do to answer these basic questions have opened up a world of research, discussion and reflection for my students, the teachers I work with and for me.”