World Savvy Supporting Educators In Remote Teaching During Shelter-in-Place, Moving 75% of Existing and New Programs Online By Sept. 1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Caitlin McShane
caitlin@emcstrategies.com
(415) 225-8855

National nonprofit helping hundreds of schools across the country to create more inclusive, equitable and successful learning for thousands of students across U.S. in shift to distance learning during Covid-19 crisis, readying its school partners to provide robust blended-learning opportunities in the Fall.

Minneapolis, May 7, 2020–World Savvy, a national education nonprofit that works with thousands of teachers across the country to prepare students for complex, real-world challenges, announced today, during National Teacher Appreciation Week, it is supporting thousands of teachers through the transition to distance learning during current social distancing orders and that 75% of its new and existing programs will be online by Sept. 1, 2020 in order to help schools provide robust blended-learning opportunities during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.

“Adaptability, comfort with complexity, and connecting the global to the local is in our DNA. Young people and educators navigating this difficult time with World Savvy’s support are fairing OK, on balance, and rising to meet this moment with incredible strength. Given the likelihood that teachers will be instituting some kind of blended online/face-to-face instruction come fall, it’s imperative we provide the tools educators and administrators need to best serve students in this environment,” said Dana Mortenson, CEO of World Savvy. “We’re excited to make this announcement during Teacher Appreciation Week. Even in good times teachers can move mountains, but during this crisis they’re really going above and beyond and we want to do all we can to support them now and in the future.”

World Savvy is holding virtual coaching sessions with educators in their programs to help them navigate this Herculean change and is making its entire suite of online professional development workshops available for free to all educators. 

“There is no question that this has been an abrupt switch for students, parents, and educators. Teachers everywhere are having to recreate their classrooms from scratch. Systems and practices we had in place don’t always translate to online learning,” said KK Neimman, a World Savvy educator and middle school humanities teacher at the Blake School. “As a World Savvy educator, I feel uniquely prepared for these challenges. I teach based not on what kids know, but what kids learn they can do, and I have prepared my students to see their lives as being inextricably linked with people locally and globally. All teachers need to feel empowered to teach kids the essential skills they need to be engaged and active community members, no matter at home or in a classroom, and World Savvy can do that.”

Additional support World Savvy is providing online includes: communities of practice, microcredentials, coursework and certificates for educators; and online collaboration and project-based learning opportunities for students.

“World Savvy prepares students to become empathetic, engaged global citizens, ready to tackle complex issues with creativity, collaboration, and compassion–something we know we need now more than ever,” Mortenson said. “Times of great crisis can also be times of great opportunity–we have the opportunity to create a better education system for our children. We’re proud and excited to be working alongside our school and district partners to migrate learning online to better serve all youth.”

A full listing of online learning opportunities can be accessed here, and additional resources can be found here.

To request an interview with Dana Mortenson, contact Caitlin McShane at (415) 225-8855 or caitlin@emcstrategies.com.

About World Savvy

World Savvy is a national nonprofit creating inclusive and future-ready schools where young people thrive by supporting educators, school administrators, and community leaders to reimagine learning for the 21st century. Since 2002, we have supported nearly 730,000 middle and high school youth in 1,100 schools. By 2030, World Savvy will engage 10,000 schools to reach 5 million students — preparing a new generation of empathetic and engaged global citizens ready to address complex, real-world challenges. www.worldsavvy.org