Hands Across Minecraft: Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday 

The National Esports Association’s
Minecraft Education Program

Supporting Digital Education

America turns 250 years old this year! Join us in Minecraft to celebrate our past, present and future.

“HANDS ACROSS Minecraft”  is a cross-curriculum program where students will reach a broad set of educational outcomes such as:

  • Engagement connectivity
  • Attendance
  • Social-Emotional learning
  • Classroom management

The National Esports Association (NEA) Media Network

MediaVision TV and Firehouse Management have created a seamless hybrid ecosystem for the NEA where digital broadcast meets live community engagement. MediaVisionTV amplifies the NEA’s reach and educational impact through professional streaming and media distribution, while Firehouse Management delivers high-energy, well organized events that foster community participation. This partnership ensures the Build Your Community Minecraft Programs are scalable and impactful for schools and communities nationwide through our massive media networks.

Implementation

Educational Partnerships

The National Esports Association (NEA) is working collaborative with leaders to launch Hands Across Minecraft. The program will culminate with students joining hands virtually in Minecraft! Find out how your school. museum or library can join in the learning.

Learning Together

For more than a decade, the National Esports Association has advanced the use of games as powerful tools for learning, creativity, and connection. As America celebrates its 250th birthday, students across the nation are coming together through Hands Across Minecraft to build, learn, and grow side by side. Exploring our past, celebrating our present, and imagining our future, young people engage in collaborative, cross-curricular learning experiences that strengthen both academic skills and shared sense of community.

Innovating Education

Hands Across Minecraft reimagines how students across the nation come together through shared experiences. Using Minecraft Education, youth collaborate to design and build virtual communities, landmarks, and future-ready cities that reflect America’s past, present, and future. These project-based builds are supported by cross-curricular lessons and culminate in live-cast showcases and national events streamed on NEA Live! Celebrating creativity, teamwork and unity.

Esports in Education Museum Tour

Join the Movement

The Esports in Education Museum Tour is a traveling, interactive experience that showcases how games, esports, and emerging technologies are transforming learning for today’s digital generation. Schools, libraries, community centers, and event hosts can bring the museum to their location to explore hands-on exhibits featuring Minecraft Education, esports careers, digital citizenship, STEAM pathways, and student-created projects.

Each tour stop includes immersive demonstrations, student showcases, and opportunities to participate in national initiatives such as Hands Across Minecraft and Minecraft Build Battle: America250. The museum inspires youth to see themselves as creators, problem-solvers, and future leaders, while giving educators and families practical models for using games as tools for learning.

Host the Museum in your town!

Communities interested in hosting the Esports in Education Museum Tour receive full program support, promotional assets, and customizable programming aligned to local goals. Hosting partners become part of a national movement to reimagine education through engagement, creativity, and collaboration.

Build Your Community Challenge in Minecraft

2026 Theme: Sustainability & Farm to School

The Challenge

The Annual Build Your Community Challenge in Minecraft invites students to imagine and design healthier, more sustainable communities through creative building and collaboration. This year’s theme focuses on Sustainability and Farm to Table, encouraging students to explore how food is grown, transported, prepared, and shared within their communities.

What Students Will Build:

1 Sustainable farms and greenhouses

2 Community gardens and farmers markets

3 Farm-to-table restaurants or school cafeterias

4 Renewable energy systems (solar, wind, water)

5 Composting and recycling centers

6 Transportation systems connecting farms to communities

How It Works:

1 Register your school or organization

2 Form student build teams

3 Build inside Minecraft Education or approved servers

4 Capture screenshots or short videos 5 Submit your project for showcase

Judging & Recognition Projects are recognized for Creativity & Design, Sustainability Concepts, Teamwork & Collaboration, Community Impact, and Presentation & Storytelling. Selected builds will be featured in national showcases and the Esports in Education Museum Tour.

 

Who can participate?

K–12 Schools, Afterschool Programs, Libraries, Community Centers, Homeschool Groups, and Youth Organizations. No prior Minecraft experience required.

Why Participate?

Students develop problem-solving, environmental awareness, collaboration skills, and real-world connections between food systems and sustainability.

Hands Across America in Minecraft

One Nation. One Epic Build.

The Mission

Bringing America Together for Its 250th Birthday

Hands Across Minecraft is a national student-led initiative where K–12 students come together to design and build virtual American communities, landmarks, and future-ready cities inside Minecraft. On May 25, 2026, students across the country will join hands in Minecraft to form a virtual chain across America in celebration of unity, creativity, and collaboration.

Who can participate?

• K–12 Schools • Afterschool Programs • Libraries • Community Centers • Homeschool Groups

How It Works:

• Register your school or organization

• Form a student build team • Choose Past, Present, or Future build theme • Build inside Minecraft Education or approved server • Join hands virtually on May 25, 2026

Look to the future

We need more partners

To increase capacity and provide access to computers & digital education in more disenfranchised spaces around the world (like our schools in India & Africa)

 

Join the Revolution

Ask our team about more
details and let us put
together a unique proposal for your organization, factoring in your priorities.
We are excited to be spearheading this international effort to revolutionize education for a
stronger, smarter, more equitable future.

 

National Esports Association ●

Get involved

Call or email today!

585-218-9125

info@nea.gg

Lori Bajorek

President
National Esports Association

Lori Bajorek is president and CEO of the National Esports Association (NEA), through which she champions esports in education. She pioneered what is considered the first educational program for esports and continues to build upon her 18 years of experience creating and implementing game-centered programs for enhanced K-12 learning, including establishing academic standards and developing curriculum. She continues to work globally with school districts and leading tech partners to further esports in education, elevating student engagement, attendance, and academic success.

Microsoft named Bajorek an honoree of the 2022 Microsoft Legacy Project, alongside luminaries like Jane Goodell, Jane Fonda, astronauts, a Nobel Prize laureate, and athletic pioneers. In 2022 she also presented her first TEDx Talk on the topic of esports in education. Under Bajorek’s leadership, the NEA was ranked third in the country in 2021 among esports entities “on the cutting edge of gaming” by Yahoo! Sports.

Bajorek speaks often at events and conferences on several esports topics, including education, engagement, inclusion, and women in gaming. She studied at Emma Willard School, a leading college-prep private school, and earned a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from the University of Buffalo. She and her husband, Ronald, are the proud parents of two grown children — Alia, a professional comedian, and Trip, a talented gamer.

Lori Bajorek is president and CEO of the National Esports Association (NEA), through which she champions esports in education. She pioneered what is considered the first educational program for esports and continues to build upon her 16 years of experience creating and implementing game- centered programs for enhanced K-12 learning, including establishing academic standards and developing curriculum. She continues to work globally with school districts and leading tech partners to further esports in education, elevating student engagement, attendance, and academic success.

Microsoft named Bajorek an honoree of the 2022 Microsoft Legacy Project, alongside luminaries like Jane Goodell, Jane Fonda, astronauts, a Nobel Prize laureate, and athletic pioneers. In 2022 she also presented her first Tedx Talk, on the topic of esports in education. Under Bajorek’s leadership, the NEA was ranked third in the country in 2021 among esports entities “on the cutting edge of gaming” by Yahoo! Sports.

Bajorek speaks often at events and conferences on several esports’ topics, including education, engagement, inclusion, and women in gaming. She studied at Emma Willard School, a leading college- prep private school, and earned a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from the University of Buffalo. She and her husband, Ronald, are the proud parents of two grown children — Alia, a professional comedian, and Trip, a talented gamer.