Ujima Wellness
Students at Kuumba Academy Charter School embodied Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility) by partnering with medical professionals to create a school-based health center in their school building.
Better World Day is an annual, national event showcasing student learning that contributes to a better world.
Students work in partnership with each other and their local communities on this day to engage in and celebrate meaningful student work that positively impacts the world around them.
Students present learning projects and engage in acts of service that demonstrate the power of EL Education’s vision for public school: a place where children become great scholars and active citizens with the capacity to make a positive impact.
See student leaders in action this Better World Day, Friday, May 5, 2023.
Better World Day: Five Years and Counting from EL Education on Vimeo.
Everyone Can Be a Part of Better World Day
EL Education invites all schools to participate in Better World Day; look around your schools and communities and ask yourselves, how can we make the world a better place? Plan a local service project or a celebration of student learning that positively impacts communities for Friday, May 5, 2023. Get inspired by checking out previous Better World Day project videos.
Share your work on social media with #BetterWorldDay, and tag EL Education!
For Schools in Active Partnership with EL Education
Better World Day Project Stipends
Sign up now to lead Better World Day projects in your schools and districts. You’ll receive a Better World Day banner and a $300 support fund stipend (limit one per school, offered on a first-come, first-served basis).
Media Features: Better World Day on the Big Screen
Are you ready to take Better World Day to another level? If your school is in active partnership with EL Education, you can apply for a $2,000 Media Feature grant to share your Better World Day story with the world in two ways:
- A mini-documentary about your Better World Day project. Get inspired by past Media Feature schools:
Out of the Margins
Old Sturbridge Academy students advocated for more diverse representation in Old Sturbridge Village, a 19th-century immersive living museum with which their school shares a site.
Buttons for a Better World
Students make the invisible visible at Explore PK-8 by crafting and wearing unique buttons. These buttons’ designs promote inclusivity and spark connections by sharing the purposes, passions, and identities of button-wearers.
- A live keynote address from two of your students at EL Education’s 2023 National Conference in Denver, CO, this December. *Travel, lodging, and registration costs will be covered for two students, their school liaison(s), and their chaperone(s).
We’ll work with members of the Student Advisory Council to select three schools to receive Media Feature grants. These schools will receive weekly guidance, support, and collaboration from EL Education staff. These meetings will begin mid-March and continue through EL Education’s 2023 National Conference in December 2023.
Applications for 2023 Better World Day Media Features are now closed.
For questions about Media Features or the Media Feature grant application, please contact Jessica Wood, EL Education’s Associate Director of Experiential Marketing, at jwood@eleducation.org.
2022 Better World Day Projects
Evergreen Community Charter School, Asheville North Carolina
Students at Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville, NC engaged in a weeklong celebration of Better World Day that included celebrating Earth Day and joining their local YWCA’s Stand Against Racism event. Their projects included establishing a campus-wide composting program, participating in a habitat restoration project for a local forest pond, and ongoing service in local community gardens.
Allendale Elementary School in Oakland California
Students at Allendale Elementary School in Oakland, CA produced a music video that documents several school and community service projects. Project themes include “Becoming Ethical People,” “Becoming Effective Learners and Making a Better World,” fostering a sense of belonging, and the importance of legacy.
Brighton Academy in Syracuse New York
As a culmination of deep learning about redlining, Brighton Academy students in Syracuse, NY led community service projects to improve, beautify, and support their local community, including repair work on local houses that have been abandoned, garden preparations around their own school building, and new mural creation.
Whitewater Middle School in Charlotte North Carolina
After studying the Holocaust as part of the EL Education Language Arts curriculum, Whitewater Middle School students in Charlotte, NC leveraged their research and design skills to create a memorial on their campus, serving to pass their learning on to their school community.
Better World Day, Five Years of Impact and Counting
More than 50,000 students, educators, and community members, and counting! These citizens are stepping up to serve their communities. With so many involved in one day of service, imagine the impact 1,000,000 EL students have had every day throughout 25 years of "getting smart to do good."
Better World Day in Flint, Michigan: A Catalyst for Contribution (Subtitled) from EL Education on Vimeo.
Get Involved
Want to join us as we work toward a better world?
- Organize or participate in service-learning projects or other acts of civic engagement alongside EL Education students and leaders worldwide on Friday, May 5, 2023.
- Join students and guest experts at our virtual Better World Day Community Circle on Friday, May 5. Sign-ups will open soon!
- Amplify the work! Follow along with #BetterWorldDay on social media; like, share, and comment to raise awareness for the work being done by students and educators nationwide to make the world a better place. Share your own stories and projects with #BetterWorldDay–you might just see it featured below:
Review the Action Online
Better World Day In the News
Better World Day caught fire over the years! See highlights of media coverage from across the country:
- Kenosha, WI -- Harborside Academy and other Kenosha Unified School District students gathered to brainstorm how to continue to improve public spaces and heal together.
- Queens, NY -- EL Student Advisory Council Member Amelie Ghirardo from MELS spoke with TV reporters in Queens, NY to hear about her school’s composting project.
- Escondido, CA -- Conway Elementarystudents took a variety of actions, including singing to seniors, distributing kindness door hangers, and cleaning up their neighborhood.
- Vallejo, CA -- Vallejo Charter School students placed kindness rocks in their neighborhood to inspire and connect their community.
- Durango, CO -- Park Elementary fourth graders developed women’s suffrage museum exhibits.
- Edgewater, CO -- Lumberg Elementary students developed built birdhouses, created pollinator gardens, and planted trees.
- Valdosta, GA -- Scintilla Charter Academy students spruced up their outdoor learning lab that includes two outdoor classrooms, gardens, a chicken coop, an orchard, and a frog pond.
- Bristol, IN --York Elementary students planted flowers and cleaned up their local mill and park.
- Portland, ME -- Students from Casco Bay High School, Presumpscot Elementary School, and King Middle School marched to call for solar panels in the city’s schools.
- Traverse City, MI -- Old Mission Peninsula School students cleaned up their local lighthouse and nearby beaches.
- Columbus, OH --Graham Elementary and Middle Schoolstudents spotlighted mental health issues, focusing on different forms of therapy at Ohio State University.
Better World Day in Portland, Maine: A Higher Purpose from EL Education on Vimeo.
Better World Day is made possible by a generous gift from the Klingenstein Foundation made in honor of Lee P. Klingenstein (1927-2020). Lee Klingenstein, EL Education's Founding Chair, was deeply passionate about providing students with meaningful opportunities to contribute to their communities.