Memories of Jeffrey
Jeffrey Nelson, a writer and producer of educational media at EDC|CCT for six years, died peacefully on November 14th, 2015, surrounded by his family and friends in New Jersey. Jeffrey was beloved by his CCT colleagues for the artful grace, wisdom, and humor he brought to nearly every interaction. From 2009, he was an integral part of two major initiatives—Possible Worlds, where he helped produce a suite of digital science-learning games for middle-school students, and Zoom In, where he produced a digital US history curriculum for middle- and high-school classrooms. Jeffrey's meticulous eye and profound gift for story made the digital games, curriculum, and videos he produced far more engaging for both children and teachers.
After beginning his career in theater and film (The Return of the Secaucus Seven, Lianna), Jeffrey went to work creating educational media in the 1980s as the producer of Bank Street College's The Voyage of the Mimi, a groundbreaking multimedia science and mathematics program. The Mimi was actually where CCT and Jeffrey first worked together, since CCT was then part of Bank Street College conducting formative research on the Mimi. In between his two stints with CCT, Jeffrey was a producer of educational television for Children's Television Workshop (Square One TV) and a writer of countless educational books and curricula for Scholastic and other major publishers. Jeffrey is survived by his wife, Irene, son Derek and daughter Lucy, and by a brother and a sister. We mourn the loss of a dear, wise, and beloved friend, but he remains with us in our work and in our hearts.