Peace Corps World Wise Schools

Peace Corps Coverdell World Wise Schools - Spotlight on Correspondence Match and Speakers Match Programs - Peace Corps Volunteer with counterpart in Lesotho.

It starts as a question, perhaps something you heard on the evening news...

Or, as a memory from a high school language class...

Maybe it was that dish you tried at a new restaurant...

Or, a person’s colorful outfit that caught your eye as she walked down the street.

Have you ever wondered about life in a foreign country? Get a first-hand look at what life is really like in various parts of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Pacific Islands, Central and South America: hear a different language spoken; see photos of daily life; taste a delicious local dish; feel hand-woven cloth made from a women’s cooperative. Through Coverdell World Wise Schools’ Correspondence Match and Speakers Match programs, these are just a few of the exciting possible educational experiences.

Hundreds of currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers are signed up for Correspondence Match, waiting to be connected with U.S. teachers and students this school year. Together with your students, you can craft your own experience with your Volunteer match. Some examples of Correspondence Match interactions have been video conference calls, shared blogging, photo-and-audio sharing, a cooperative quilt, yearbook and email exchanges.

The Correspondence Match and Speakers Match programs bring the world to your students. Each program comes with a handbook rich with resources that will help you make the program enjoyable and useful for your students. The handbook provides ideas for connecting the Volunteer and students, in addition to teaching suggestions correlated with learning standards in Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math, World Languages, and other subjects.

The programs provide fascinating ways for students to learn about another culture and hear inspiring accounts of service. Volunteers share photographs, artifacts, music, language, and stories. Their work in education, health, environmental issues, agriculture, and business can help your students learn about global issues as well as the geography and culture of another country.

Enroll in Speakers Match and Correspondence Match—and encourage your colleagues to do so, too!

Educators participating in the Correspondence Match and Speakers Match program share their experiences:

5,379 miles is a long way to go to tell students how to cook a chicken in a mud stove.

This and other lessons learned were addressed by current Peace Corps volunteer Molly Rosett, serving in Benin, Africa. Molly has been my class’s correspondence match since August and as part of her vacation, she spent part of her precious time in the United States talking to her pen pals.

I am so deeply touched and honored that Molly would travel such a distance (my school is in rural North Carolina, not close to many urban areas or airports). Her actions show her obvious passion for the Peace Corps and relay her belief in the importance of educating students about service to others.

As an educator, it was so valuable for me to see students engaged in a potential life outside of iPods and television media. One of the lessons Molly addresses ... more

In 2011 nearly 22,000 people around the United States learned about Peace Corps Volunteer experiences abroad through the Speakers Match program. Host a speaker today!

Peace Corps Volunteer with students in Senegal

Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica with student

About Correspondence Match (video)

The idea is simple: Pair your classroom with a Peace Corps Volunteer overseas and the exchange takes off. E nroll online

Yearbook Project: Modern Shaangan Life (pdf)

As part of a unique project originating through his Correspondence Match, Peace Corps Volunteer Adam Willard worked with 7th grade students to create a yearbook providing a glimpse of everyday life and culture of in a South African community.

Handbooks for Speakers Match and Correspondence Match Programs (pdf)

Learn how to make the most of these programs to enrich students' reading, writing, research, and analytic skills.

It is not too late to get your classroom connected with a Peace Corps Volunteer for this school year. Learn more about the program and enroll.

For those already enrolled in the program, be sure to work together with your Volunteer match to create a long term plan for the correspondence. Consider giving the connection structure by focusing on one or two themes per month, allowing students an opportunity to learn about another country and culture in depth.

Troubleshooting Tip: If you are recently matched with a Peace Corps Volunteer, be sure to add Coverdell World Wise School's email as well as the Volunteer’s email address to your address book and check your email spam folders regularly to ensure receipt of all communications.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Overseas Phone Calls (podcasts) Listen to a few Peace Corps Volunteers speak by telephone with U.S. classrooms they communicated with through the Correspondence Match Program. TESOL lessons available
Growing Up in Bulgaria (slide show) Visit a Bulgarian community with Peace Corps Volunteer Stephanie Dunnam. Learn about the lives of local children, school and family life, celebrations, cuisine, and cultures that make it unique.
Life is Wonderful (video) By painting a large, colorful mural, Peace Corps Volunteer Theo Davis and his artistic community members in Kyrgystan found an innovative and effective way to educate others about the importance of AIDS/HIV prevention.
Sustained by the Sun (slide show) Find out how Peace Corps Volunteer Katie DeWitt and a community-wide enthusiasm for renewable energy used one of their most abundant resources—the sun—to power their local biological reserve in Costa Rica.