by Rob Madrid | Jul 15, 2025 | Compañeros de Clase Globales, iEARN-USA News, Sponsored Programs
At Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., English teacher Nichelle Calhoun engaged her students in both Compañeros de Clase Globales and Storytelling for Change during the 2023-24 school year. Nichelle emphasized how iEARN’s programs gave her students opportunities they don’t often get. She saw how the experience gave her students a sense of validation and visibility that isn’t always present in traditional classroom settings. It allowed them to express themselves in new ways, engage with global peers, and recognize the power of their own stories.
Nichelle used the virtual exchanges as a way to deepen her English curriculum, prompting students to reflect on their own communities and voices. She noted that these programs helped students explore who they are and feel more connected in the process.
As students engaged with their international peers, Nichelle encouraged them to consider their roles as not just members of their neighborhood or school, but as representatives of their city, their culture, and even their country. This broader lens helped her students recognize the importance of how they
communicate and listen across borders.
She also layered the academic side of the program with meaningful global context. “We would research a country through something like the CIA World Factbook, but I also told my students to listen to their exchange partners’ stories because those stories may not always match the statistics,” she explained.
“That’s what makes this powerful. Virtual exchange isn’tjust about learning the facts. It’s about understanding the real lives, the experiences, and the voices behind the facts.”
Nichelle believes this blend of inquiry and empathy builds essential skills. Through iEARN-USA, her students moved beyond textbook definitions of global citizenship-they began to live it.
iEARN-USA’s Compañeros de Clase Globales virtual program is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation. To learn more about iEARN-USA and how to join this or other virtual exchange programs, visit https://projects.us.iearn.org/.
by Rob Madrid | Jul 12, 2025 | Compañeros de Clase Globales, iEARN-USA News, Professional Development, Sponsored Programs
Lauren Giunta, an ESL and Spanish Language Teacher at Williamsburg Prep in Brooklyn, created an entire elective class around iEARN’s Compañeros de Clase Globales (CCG) program. While the exchange itself lasted nine weeks, Lauren designed a full-year “Virtual Foreign Exchange” course for her 11th and 12th-grade students. “I created an elective called Virtual Foreign Exchange. It’s a new course in New York City,” she said.
Lauren tailored the curriculum to support students working toward the New York State Seal of Biliteracy, using cultural iceberg activities and research projects to help students explore identity, language, and heritage. Projects ranged from Puerto Rican identity and gentrification to European beauty standards in Dominican culture. Students conducted original research, used native-language sources, and developed rigorous academic papers based on their interests and cultural background.
The CCG program provided the foundation. “It created a foundation and a zone of partnership … a zone of taking risks,” Lauren said. “It created a class community of cultural rigor, cultural competency, and engagement with the work.”
She also emphasized the value of the professional development she received through iEARN -USA, including the summer training in Guatemala. “Public school teachers really don’t get these types of opportunities. Most of us are lifelong learners who really enjoy learning, traveling, and language.”
Lauren’s students not only completed academic projects but also explored personal and cultural identity. “It allowed them to explore, in an academic and social-emotional way, what it means for them, how they’re different and what they have in common with each other,” she said.
The impact extended beyond the classroom. Lauren received enthusiastic feedback from both parents and school administrators who were impressed by the depth and creativity of the student work. One standout project came from a senior who explored the historical and cultural connections between churches in Puebla, Mexico, and New York. She interviewed her grandmother, who grew up in a small town in Puebla, as part of her research. “She just did something that I don’t even know if a journalist has really ever written,” Lauren noted. The project helped the student connect her family history to her community in New York in a powerful, original way.
iEARN-USA’s Compañeros de Clase Globales virtual program is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation. To learn more about iEARN-USA and how to join this or other virtual exchange programs, visit https://projects.us.iearn.org/.
by Rob Madrid | Feb 6, 2025 | Compañeros de Clase Globales, iEARN-USA News, Sponsored Programs
iEARN-USA’s Compañeros de Clase Globales Welcomes Students from Oaxaca Through New Stevens Initiative Partnership
iEARN-USA is proud to announce that Compañeros de Clase Globales, our dynamic virtual exchange program implemented with iEARN Mexico, will now include students from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, as part of a new partnership between The Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute and the Ministry of Education of Oaxaca. This collaboration marks an exciting step forward in expanding access to transformative virtual exchange opportunities for young people in Mexico, the United States, and beyond.
The partnership, formalized through a Letter of Intent between the Stevens Initiative and the Ministry of Education of Oaxaca, underscores a shared commitment to fostering global leadership through virtual exchange. This initiative will enable students from Oaxaca to connect with their peers across the United States, engaging in meaningful cross-cultural collaboration and dialogue.
Expanding Virtual Exchange Opportunities
Through this partnership, 250 high school students in Oaxaca will participate in virtual exchange programs in spring 2025, including Compañeros de Clase Globales, a program that fosters language learning and mutual understanding among Spanish-speaking classrooms. The program integrates real-world projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), helping students explore topics such as robotics, environmental sustainability, and cultural exchange through literature.
Compañeros de Clase Globales provides an opportunity for students in Oaxaca to collaborate with peers in U.S. cities such as Bozeman, MT; Henderson, NC; Nashville, TN; Oconomowoc, WI; Santa Fe, NM; Riverside, CA; and Washington, DC. This exchange enables students to engage in global conversations, develop their language skills, and work on solutions to shared challenges.
A Commitment to Global Learning
The partnership was announced in Oaxaca in a ceremony chaired by Delfina Guzmán, Secretary of Education of the State of Oaxaca, and Christine Shiau, Executive Director of the Stevens Initiative. Both leaders emphasized the importance of international virtual exchange programs in preparing young people to become future leaders and problem solvers in an increasingly interconnected world.
“The Stevens Initiative is proud to support the expansion of opportunities for young people in Oaxaca and the United States to engage in transformative cross-cultural exchanges, preparing them to lead a more peaceful and prosperous world,” said Christine Shiau. “This partnership represents a shared commitment to building bridges of understanding and opportunity for rising generations of leaders.”
In addition to Compañeros de Clase Globales, the partnership will also support Global Nomads Group’s Building Understanding Through Language Learning, which promotes empathy and awareness through language learning by connecting people in Mexico and the United States. Students also join live conversations with their international peers where they can interact with each other, share aspects of their cultures, and practice English or Spanish with native speakers as they discuss the curriculum.
iEARN-USA’s Compañeros de Clase Globales virtual program is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation. To learn more about iEARN-USA and how to join this or other virtual exchange programs, visit https://projects.us.iearn.org/.
Looking Ahead
As iEARN-USA continues to expand its reach and impact through virtual exchange, we are honored to be part of this initiative that connects students across borders and empowers them with the tools to collaborate on global issues. This partnership is an important milestone in our mission to foster mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among young people worldwide.
For more details on the Stevens Initiative’s partnership with the State of Oaxaca, visit the official announcement here.
