The Real Education Project

Preserving Civil Rights History Through Storytelling

🏆 Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook
The Real Education of TJ Crowley: Coming of Age on the Redline

Help Us Share This Story with the World

The Real Education Project uses award-winning audio storytelling to preserve civil rights history, challenge racial injustice, and spark powerful conversations in classrooms and communities.

Our immersive audio drama, The Real Education of TJ Crowley, is now recognized as one of the best in the world — and your support helps us bring its message to more students, teachers, and listeners.

2024: A Breakthrough Year for The Real Education Project

🏆 Winner: Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook — the highest honor in the industry
📈 Debuted as the #1 New Release in Historical Fiction for Teens on Audible
🎙️ Received the AudioFile Earphones Award for exceptional audio performance
🤝 Hosted powerful community listening events, connecting students, educators, and civic leaders

Why Now? Because the truth still matters.

At a time when honest conversations about race, history, and equity are being silenced in classrooms, stories like The Real Education of TJ Crowley offer a way in — with empathy, integrity, and impact.

Your support helps preserve civil rights history, protect inclusive education, and ensure that young people have the tools to think critically, feel deeply, and stand for justice.

Community Listening in Action

Real Voices. Real Real Reflection. Real Change.

Across Wichita and beyond, students, educators, and community leaders are gathering to listen — and to act.

📸 Highlights from the Journey

Moments from the movement, in the classroom and the community.

Coming Soon: The Official Scriptbook

📘 The Real Education of TJ Crowley Audio Drama Scriptbook

A new companion guide for educators, classrooms, and discussion groups

Thanks to the support of a dedicated patron, we’re thrilled to announce the upcoming Scriptbook — a vital resource for educators, readers, and anyone who wants to go deeper into the story.

It will include:

• The full, word-for-word script of the award-winning audio drama

• Historical notes and redlining context

• Guided discussion prompts

• Classroom listening activities

This is more than a script — it’s a literary resource, a teaching tool, and a way to keep this conversation going.

Education Through Listening

In classrooms across Kansas and beyond, students are experiencing The Real Education of TJ Crowley through a shared audio listening model. This group approach encourages empathy, sparks discussion, and turns history into personal reflection.

Our Scriptbook and teaching guides are designed to support this model — with real questions, real voices, and real impact.

🙌 Our Supporters Made This Possible

The Real Education Project would not exist without the generosity, belief, and early investment of our community. We’re deeply grateful to the organizations and individuals who helped bring The Real Education of TJ Crowley to life:

Institutional Supporters:

• The Youth Educational Empowerment Program (YEEP), our fiscal sponsor

• Shocker Studios at Wichita State University

• The Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency

• The Lenox Foundation

• The Stecher Family Foundation

• Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Co.

• Bird by Bird Outreach

Individual Donors:

• Abbe F. Large

• Mike and Sally Harris

• Marcia Ross and Jeff Kaufman

• Michael Simon

• Dr. Michael Birzer

• Gretchen Eick and Michael Poage

• Sarah Bagby

We honor your belief in the power of truth-telling, and we thank you for helping us build something that will educate, inspire, and endure.

Want to join this growing circle of supporters?

Your donation helps us bring The Real Education Project to more classrooms, more communities, and more hearts.

Every gift is tax-deductible and directly fuels our mission: to preserve civil rights history, empower educators, and spark critical conversations through the power of storytelling.

Why Your Gift Matters Now

In a time when inclusive education is under threat and stories about race and justice are being erased, your support ensures this work continues. You're not just funding an audiobook — you're preserving civil rights history and empowering the next generation.

Your donation today ensures this story continues to be heard.

Your contribution is tax-deductible and directly fuels our mission to preserve civil rights history, empower educators, and inspire lasting change.

About this Project

The Real Education Project is a nonprofit initiative developed by Grain Valley Publishing in partnership with NonProfitGO, our trusted 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.

Together, we’re working to preserve civil rights history, promote truth in education, and expand access to powerful storytelling tools like The Real Education of TJ Crowley and the forthcoming Scriptbook.

Want to help preserve history and protect the truth?

Now’s the time.

Prefer to Donate Another Way?

💳 Online – Donate securely via PayPal or credit card
🏦 Bank Transfer – Contact us to request routing and account info
✉️ By Check – Make payable to NonProfitGO (our fiscal sponsor)

Memo: “The Real Education Project”
Mail to: NonProfitGO, 303 S. Broadway, Suite 121, Wichita, KS 67202

All gifts are tax-deductible and go directly to supporting our mission.

Thank You. Truly.

Your generosity helps preserve the truth, amplify unheard voices, and bring this powerful story into classrooms and communities that need it most.