Apply for the Local Letters Train the Trainers Program

We’re looking for educators passionate about global citizenship, solutions thinking, and civic engagement for our Local Letters: Train the Trainers program!

Since 2018, thousands of students have written letters to decisionmakers calling for local solutions to global issues through the Pulitzer Center’s Local Letters for Global Change contest. Most students complete this project as part of a class, in which teachers guide them through how to identify the manifestations of global issues in their own communities, develop solutions to those community problems, and make a case for action. The project teaches real-world skills and offers a venue to amplify student voices.

Now, we’re asking educators to join us in amplifying this project and the student voices that power it. Selected trainers will equip other educators who want to share Local Letters for Global Change with their students in one of two ways:

1. Leading a training session for at least five other educators, OR 
2. Facilitating workshops for at least two classes of K-12 students and sharing their experience, strategies, and tips in a written blog.

Whether you have facilitated Local Letters workshops in your classroom for years or are learning about the project for the first time this year, we invite you to apply.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be currently working in a position through which they regularly connect with one of the following audiences:

• Educators who currently work with K–12 students in the U.S. or U.S. territories
• K–12 students in the U.S. or U.S. territories

Program Details:

What trainers will do: Selected trainers have two options. They can…

• Organize and facilitate a training for at least five K–12 educators, sharing Local Letters for Global Change materials and equipping them to lead workshops with their students, OR
• Facilitate Local Letters for Global Change workshops for K–12 students and write a short blog sharing their experience with the project, teaching strategies, and tips for educators who want to facilitate this project themselves.

What trainers will receive:

• A $300 honorarium at the conclusion of the program
• Complete materials for facilitating an educator training or a student workshop, which they can adapt and supplement
• A live, virtual orientation in which “Local Letters: Train the Trainers” program participants will experience a training and connect with Pulitzer Center staff, resources, and their fellow educators
• Recognition as a Local Letters trainer on the Pulitzer Center website

What can events led by selected educators look like?

For program participants planning to engage educator audiences, events could include:

• Classroom teachers leading a training at a district professional development day
• Curriculum supervisors, administrators, or department heads leading a training for all teachers in their department or at their school
• Afterschool and/or nonprofit program managers leading a training for teaching artists they supervise
• Homeschool coop organizers leading a training for parents/guardians

For program participants planning to engage student audiences, educators can implement this project during class time or as part of an out-of-school time program.

Program Timeline:

• Sunday, August 23: Applications due
  Saturday, September 12, 11:30–1:00pm EDT: Virtual orientation for selected participants
  Friday, October 23: Deadline for selected participants to complete all educator trainings and student workshops
  Sunday, November 1: Local Letters for Global Change Contest deadline
  Sunday, November 8: Deadline for submission of all deliverables (closing surveys for all trainers; blogs for trainers with a student audience only)
  Friday, November 20: Approximate date for the disbursement of program stipend (early payment possible for trainers who complete deliverables early)

Because the virtual orientation session will be held virtually, applicants must have stable internet access and a computer with a webcam and microphone.

How to apply:

Click here to access the short application form!

If you have questions about the program or application after reading the information above, please reach out to us at [email protected].