Project Soapbox & Local Letters for Global Change Workshop

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How can we empower students to connect community issues to action?

Join Mikva Challenge and the Pulitzer Center on September 24 from 4:30-7:30pm for a professional development workshop designed to help educators create meaningful opportunities for students to explore issues they care about, connect local and global perspectives, develop their ideas, and use their voices to advocate for change. 

What are Project Soapbox + Local Letters for Global Change? 

Project Soapbox is a civic engagement and public speaking experience that helps students identify issues they care about, develop powerful speeches, and move audiences toward action. Educators explore strategies for helping students define an issue, identify community assets, envision change, and craft specific calls to action.

Local Letters for Global Change is a student writing experience that invites young people to explore Pulitzer Center-supported reporting on an underreported global issue, make connections to their own communities, and write to a local elected representative with locally relevant solutions. Students practice global citizenship, civic action, and persuasive writing through a piece of writing with real-world purpose.

Workshop for Chicagoland middle & high school educators

This interactive workshop will introduce educators to both Project Soapbox and Local Letters for Global Change and explore the connections between the two approaches.

Participants will:

• Explore strategies for helping students identify and investigate issues they care about and connect those issues to their local communities.
• Experience approaches for developing persuasive speeches and letters that elevate student voice and communicate ideas to an authentic audience.
• Explore how students can move from identifying problems to imagining solutions and taking action, including making connections between global issues and local opportunities for change.
• Explore ready-to-use classroom resources including graphic organizers, curated reporting, speech-writing tools, rubrics, and examples of student work.

Together, these approaches give educators multiple ways to help students move from “This issue matters to me” → “This is how it affects my community” → “Here is the change I want to see” → “Here is what we can do about it.”

Workshop details & application

Workshop date & time:
Thursday, September 24 4:30-7:30pm

Location:
Mikva Challenge Office (200 S Michigan Ave)

This workshop is designed for Chicagoland middle and high school teachers and will be facilitated by Mikva Challenge and Pulitzer Center staff. Participants will receive a $50 stipend, CPDUs, and dinner.

This workshop is open to education professionals supporting Chicagoland middle and high school students. Eligible participants include classroom teachers, administrators, and content specialists supporting Chicagoland schools and educators supporting programming for youth in carceral facilities.

Applications for this event are due Monday, September 14th at 11:59pm CST. 

What happens after I apply?

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We will notify applicants of their acceptance by Friday, September 18th. Educators who are accepted will receive additional information and workshop details upon acceptance.

For any questions, please contact Pulitzer Center Education Manager Jaya Mukherjee at [email protected] or Mikva Challenge School-Based Programming Director Rebecca Coven at [email protected]