OUR MODEL
All youth need a global network to help them activate their own global journeys through work and life. All schools need to prepare students for a world where global collaboration and cooperation is the norm. Combating the ignorance that breeds fear and intolerance begins with young people.
Reach the World transforms the energy of travelers into a learning resource for K-12 classrooms. Our programs use the web, messaging and video conferencing to connect youth with travelers through global, virtual exchanges. Our nationwide network of educators, travelers and volunteers are building a more thoughtful and welcoming society by sharing the eye-opening benefits of travel and exploration with the youth of today, who will be the decision-makers of tomorrow.
Active Traveler Network
We give volunteer travelers and explorers the tools and support they need to engage large and diverse student audiences.
Personalized Matching
We curate global experiences for PK-12 classrooms, taking into account educator preferences, learning objectives and student demographics.
Virtual Exchange Programming
Educators welcome global voices into their classrooms, receive content produced just for their students, and develop shared projects.
Outcomes Measurement
We track outputs and outcomes for travelers, educators, students and volunteers in geographic literacy, cultural competency and self-efficacy via easy-to-use surveys and rubrics.
From rural communities to urban centers, more U.S. students are forming positive, personal connections with the global community than ever before thanks to Reach the World. RTW’s Traveler Program matches volunteer travelers and PK-12 classrooms in a personalized, 1:1 model. RTW’s Explorer Program connects world-famous explorers to large and diverse student audiences, broadening the impact of their explorations. The Meet the World Program invites Fulbright’s foreign scholars into U.S. classrooms for cultural exchanges.
During the 2023-2024 school year, Reach the World will pursue the following operational goals:
- Recruit, train, engage and match at least 200 educators across the nation in Traveler Program virtual exchanges
- Present 8-12 expeditions that will reach at least 4,000 students and present a wide variety of curricular connections
- Recruit, train, engage and match at least 250 corporate volunteers who will support travelers, explorers, educators and students
Reach the World’s premise is that a global network is a prerequisite to the pursuit of the American Dream. Poverty is not only about a lack of basic resources. It is also about the impoverishment of relationships outside of the immediate community. The presence or absence of a global network – both for individuals, and in communities – is a key to upward mobility, and an underappreciated driver of our society’s class and opportunity divides. For 25 years, RTW’s mission has been to invent, deploy, and evaluate a set of virtual exchange products that PK-12 teachers can easily use to bring the world vividly into the classroom, for all students, in all communities.
