Peace Corps World Wise Schools

Peace Corps Coverdell World Wise Window, image of students from Saint Vincent and the Grenadine islands

Spotlight on Global Issues in the New School Year

“Global competency is a 21st century skill and it is, therefore, the right of every child to have the opportunity to develop skills that are fundamental to their ability to participate as citizens. It is also their right to develop the skills that will allow them to have decent jobs and the opportunity to earn a living in an economy that is increasingly interdependent with the rest of the world.”
-Dr. Fernando Reimers, Director, International Education Policy Program, Harvard University.

How do you plan to infuse global issues and 21st century skills into your classroom this year?

Coverdell World Wise Schools resources make it easy to integrate global issues and cultural awareness into the core content areas. Connecting with a Peace Corps Volunteer through the Correspondence Match or Speakers Match program is an engaging way for students to consider other perspectives and learn about culture. Interactive investigations, including webQuests and the Peace Corps Challenge game, engage students in inquiry, problem-solving, and applying content knowledge to real-world situations. Later this fall, the World Wise Window will feature its new global issues module, specifically designed to help students become aware of issues that extend within and beyond U.S. borders.

This year, consider empowering students to take action and make a difference in their world through service learning. Coverdell World Wise Schools’ new, interactive service learning module is full of resources to help you successfully implement a service learning initiative: project examples, strategies for connecting service activities to the curriculum, suggestions for making global connections, and hands-on tools, including a planning template and rubric. The October issue of World Wise Window will take an in-depth look at these new service learning resources.

The beginning of the new school year is the perfect time to make a commitment to preparing globally-ready students. Check back with Coverdell World Wise Schools throughout the year for ideas, inspiration, and resources to help you meet that challenge. And write to wwsinfo@peacecorps.gov to let us know how it is going.

Q: The first day of school for many students can be wonderful, exhilarating, and sometimes a little scary; what were the first few days in your host country like?

A: The first few days in Cape Verde were all those things, but mostly exhilarating. I say this because I waited so long and finally I was in country—another world, literally! But the scariest time is when you get dropped off at the home of your host family, with no language skills, and they are all staring at you like you are a Martian from outer space. But wonderful in the sense that they welcomed me with open arms and smiled continuously. I was home.

James Peters, General Construction Peace Corps Volunteer, Cape Verde

... More responses

500 new Peace Corps Volunteers are waiting to be matched with a classroom educator! Engage in a vibrant two-year exchange of ideas, stories, pictures, and artifacts that helps U.S. students learn about the people, geography, and cultures of the world from the direct experience of Volunteers living in other countries.

Enroll in the Correspondence Match program today!

New Video About Coverdell World Wise Schools
(8 mins)

Share this video at an upcoming staff or team meeting to introduce colleagues to high interest, free, and readily accessible resources. This video provides educators with a short overview of Coverdell World Wise Schools resources, as well as educator perspectives on the value of bringing global education into the classroom.

Explore Interactive Service Learning Guides

Use these new interactive guides, along with the Coverdell World Wise Schools’ teaching suggestions, project ideas, and downloadable planning and evaluation tools, to engage students in service learning activities that foster global awareness and connect to core content areas.

Spanish Translations

Additional stories and videos from Peace Corps Volunteers have been translated into Spanish! Immerse your students in the language by having them read transcripts while they listen to and watch Volunteer stories from Spanish speaking countries.

Would you like to invite a returned Peace Corps Volunteer to visit your class? Submit a Speakers Match request to get connected!

Enhance your students' learning in almost any subject area. There are returned Peace Corps Volunteers from every region of the world who have worked at the grassroots level.

Their stories, projects, and experiences can provide U.S. students with unusually candid firsthand perspectives of cultures worldwide, views not usually accessible through textbooks, films, and other familiar media.

Featured Resources, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Little Yellow House by the Sea Tour Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with returned Peace Corps Volunteers Amber and Brian Lewandowski.
Raising Chickens, Empowering Youth Learn about a small poultry business project that Peace Corps Volunteer Brian Lewandowski began with local sixth-graders. After viewing the slideshow, students engage in a math investigation in which they plan their own fictional poultry businesses.
Keep Fit Healthy Living Program Amber Lewandowski, who served in the Peace Corps as a special education volunteer, discusses her experience working with local women to develop a wellness program on the Eastern Caribbean islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Listen \| Read