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/.
