School the World

School the World is an international non-profit organization committed to solving extreme poverty through the power of education.  Established in 2009 and headquartered in Boston, MA, our team works on the ground in the poorest Central American communities where the quality of education is extremely poor, providing resources and capacity building of teachers and parents to change trajectory of learning and success in life.  Our interactive strategy is to work at the grassroots level, organizing communities around education from early childhood through adolescence.  

Since the very beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in early March, our teams on the ground in Guatemala, Honduras, and Northern Panama have been hard at work bridging “distance learning” innovation and collaboration in local communities during these uncertain times when schools continue to be closed due to the pandemic. 

We are committed to solving the problem of extreme poverty by turning around failing schools and decreasing dropout rates in poor rural communities of Guatemala, Honduras, and Northern Panama. Our solution: to enhance our existing programming for when students return to classrooms, AND also grow our distance learning opportunities for students at home due to COVID-19 school closures. 

Since March, teams on the ground have been hard at work bridging distance learning innovation in local communities as governments were slow to act, if at all. We have produced/broadcasted new radio programming for families, created/distributed workbooks for continued learning, and used WhatsApp to check in with families/students, focusing especially on at-risk girls.  We recently held a series of online training sessions focused on remedial teaching attended by 900+ teachers who reach ~24,000 students and provide consistent, quality learning opportunities for children. We hope to extend our reach through support.

Education is a vital human right and plays a key role in human, social, and economic development.  Today, 262 million school-age children are out of school and 250 million children around the world lack basic reading, writing, and math skills.  Interestingly, 130 million children do complete 4 years of school, but never actually learn the basics to help them throughout their lives.  Through change and access to quality education, a major shift in how young people live and grow up to be successful adults can continue to happen.  For example, one extra year of schooling can increase an individual’s earnings by up to 10%. 

Currently, we are focused on solving the problems that arise during this time & potential outcomes (i.e. increased drop out rates).  By disrupting problems that have continued for so long (i.e. poorly educated parents, lack of teacher accountability, lack of resources, literacy and digital literacy, etc.), children will have a better chance of achieving success in life and shifting the trajectory.  While the impact of education certainly has a long arc, we have seen dramatic decreases in dropout rates with steady increases in first grade completion and passing rates at our first few established schools. 

Together with local governments, partners and deeply engaged parents, School the World’s main focus is to organize communities around education from early childhood through adolescence for 10 years of quality learning. We build schools, but that is not enough. To create lasting and sustainable change we also train teachers, deeply engage the parents and local community, stock libraries, award scholarships for lower secondary school, and help scholarship recipients develop life skills and a plan for the future. 

Currently, along with our pivot to COVID-19 response efforts, School the World is focused on keeping all children safe, especially middle school-aged girls who are at great risk of abuse, unwanted teenage pregnancy, and early marriage during crises.  

This spring, School the World (STW) Radio was launched.  We knew that if we didn’t act quickly, children would never recover from the COVID-19 crisis that continues.  We learned from Hurricane Katrina and Ebola that the poorest children fall the furthest behind and never make up all the learning lost. We refuse to let that happen, and so broadcasting began.  Children in our communities do not have computers or televisions, but they do have radios in the home.  Through newly-established partnerships with local radio stations, programming for entire families took flight. Our team began producing and recording programs.  Broadcasts include weekly lessons, “story-time,” advice for parents, and PSAs reminding students and families that in-person schooling will continue when safe to do so.

For example, in our interactive lessons, a teacher narrates a story and children answer questions in real-time in their notebooks.  “Story-time” includes 30 minute "audiobook" readings where listeners are asked questions afterwards and tune in the next day for answers.  “Radio-Novelas” are for parents and share important advice on how to help children continue to learn from home.  Lastly, PSAs are played often to promote the importance of education, especially during this time of uncertainty.

To put it simply: School the World is working to build a better future for youth in the poorest communities on Earth. Without efforts being made in Central America, the cycle would continue for generations. 

School the World has always taken pride in being an innovative organization.  When the COVID-19 crisis began and our team was unsure of how long stay-at-home orders would be in effect, we knew something needed to be done – and quickly.  Students in remote communities we serve often are the first to stay in school and learn – we knew that we couldn’t risk the lack of engagement, especially as local governments did very little (or nothing) to help continue education.  Taking a deep dive into how students learn, and how we could promote continued engagement even from afar, the idea of STW Radio was born.

School the World’s goal this year is to maintain as much impact as possible during the pandemic and to accelerate remediation as soon as schools reopen to minimize learning loss.  Radio programming, while not a full solution for school closures, has allowed children and families to remain engaged and interested in learning.  Because we do not know when children will be returning to schools, especially in Central America, STW Radio has (and will continue to be) incredibly beneficial for students in communities we serve, and even those we have never before served thanks to radio wave reach. 

School the World has continued to partner with local radio stations in Central America to broadcast programming free of charge when schools are closed.  Our team on the ground continues to produce and record new lessons weekly and has dedicated time to improving lessons and also find ways to reach more students and families.

School the World was started by an individual (Kate Curran), who left her job as an attorney in the corporate world to make the world a better place.  Challenges she faced at the beginning (and some School the World still currently faces) is working with corrupt mayors and local governments' budgets to better education in poor areas. 

Our organization also relies on student service trips to fund 50% of educational programming on the ground.  Students from the U.S. travel to our communities to help build schools, meet the community, etc.  Canceled trips in 2020 have impacted us deeply.

School the World is proud to continue to empower our local team in Central America to build the confidence to create change even among cultural differences, especially during this time.  During the COVID-19 crisis, we have maintained the development and vision of our overall organization.  We've also worked hard to set the tone of transparency to navigate through these times, ensuring that we don't lose our organizational mission. 

School the World is the first organization to implement many of the COVID-19 responses in Central America.  This is incredibly important as governments have done very little to help communities in Guatemala, Honduras and northern Panama.  

Since the beginning of the pandemic, School the World is proud of the hard work done to institute new and innovative technology, including:

·      STW Radio: Programs produced by the team are now reaching thousands by being broadcasted on local radio stations and include weekly lessons, story time, ‘Radio-Novelas’ filled with advice for parents, and PSAs.

·      Virtual Teacher Training: The teacher training team delivered a five-week program with well over 400 teachers enrolled, and remedial training with nearly 900 teachers enrolled, reaching ~24,000 students. 

·      Constant Communication: The team delivered distance learning programming using WhatsApp for families and students without access to computers and internet access.

·      Support for Girls: Teams on the ground have made a strong effort to protect girls, empower them to know their individual rights, and make sure they return to school through WhatsApp support groups.

·      Delivered Lessons: Materials, such as workbooks, have been created and safely delivered to children living communities to keep them engaged and learning from home.

Currently, schooling (through teachers) is reaching ~24,000 children.  Through STW Radio, educational lessons is reaching thousands more (exact number unknown at this time as broadcasting expands). 

This year's goal(s): 

- Maintain as much impact as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic

- Accelerate remediation as soon as schools reopen to minimize learning loss 

Next 5 years goals: 

- To fully develop and improve new components, such as: 

1. Early childhood program

2. Scholarship program

3. Girls empowerment

4. Digital training/literacy

5. Encourage students to stay in school until at least lower secondary school / decrease dropout rates 

Barriers that currently exist include:

- COVID-19 pandemic

- Economic crisis (fundraising is always a challenge, but more difficult now than ever)

- Developing digital learning components in rural/poor areas has a major impact on learning

- Our revenue producing model (student service trips makes up a majority of our fundraising) - without travel, our revenue is down 45% in 2020 

We plan to continue bringing innovation to the poorest communities of Central America during this difficult time.  To make up for revenue lost through lack of travel, we are implementing new fundraising programs. 

Our model is unique and has high impact. It brings basic resources and modest capacity-building of teachers and parents to make it possible for the poorest kids to learn and can completely change the entire trajectory of entire communities.

School the World's programs are very unique and has the potential to reach many more people with visibility. The Elevate Prize would provide unmatched visibility.