Chicago, IL: Polaris Charter Academy
Students at Polaris Charter Academy in Chicago, Illinois will provide food baskets to their neighbors and work to beautify their neighborhood with a range of service projects.
Better World Day
Save the Date: Next year's Better World Day is May 3rd, 2019!
Better World Day is a wrap! On May 4th, tens of thousands of EL Education students and teachers in more than 100 schools took civic action to make the world a safer, stronger, and more just place locally and globally. Take a look back at some of the ways students put their learning to work for a better world.
Events
From creating beautiful city murals, to delivering clean water to Flint, Michigan, students at EL Education partner schools made their mark on the world on May 4th -- and every day. Take a look back at the student-led events below, a few of the 100+ student-led activities which happened across the country.
Columbus, OH: Graham Elementary and Middle Schools
Fifth graders from Graham Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio will travel to the Scioto Audobon Metro Park to help eradicate the park's invasive species.
Denver, CO: Downtown Denver Expeditionary Learning School
On Better World Day, Downtown Denver Expeditionary Learning School is partnering with community arts and development groups to help paint the side of a 6-story parking garage in Denver.
From West Greenwich, RI to Flint, MI: The Greene School and Eagle's Nest Academy
As part of an ongoing service project, the Greene School in Rhode Island is partnering with Eagle's Nest Academy in Flint, Michigan on May 4th to call attention to the Flint, Michigan water crisis. The Greene School and Eagle's Nest Academy will deliver supplies such as baby wipes, formula, and water filtration devices to community members.
New York City: WHEELS, a NYC Outward Bound School
At WHEELS, a school in the NYC Outward Bound Schools network in New York City, high schoolers will partner with lower grades to execute a series of service projects, from beautifying school spaces, to working with local organizations to raise awareness about social issues like gender equality.
New York City: James Baldwin School
Approximately 30 students from the James Baldwin School in NYC will give a prensentation on "Student Leadership in the Age of Protest" at the Lehman College Restorative Justice Conference on May 4th.
Portland, ME: Presumpscot Elementary School, King Middle School, and Casco Bay High School
Presumpscot Elementary School, King Middle School, and Casco Bay High School are convening at Back Cove Park in Portland, Maine to engage 1,200 students in learning and service through planting bulbs and improving trails.
Rochester, NY: Genesee Community Charter School
Students at Genesee Community Charter School in Rochester, NY will gather to begin a mural painting project that will bring beautiful street art to four quadrants of the city.
Truckee, CA: Sierra Expeditionary Learning School and Tahoe Expeditionary Academy
Sierra Expeditionary Learning School and Tahoe Expeditionary Academy will join together for Better World Day to embark on a day of service that includes restoring forests through planting sugar pines and monitoring fish habitats.
Check out 100 more student-led events which took place on Better World Day.
Better World Challenge
Our students challenge you to join us for Better World Day. It’s a day to honor students who work hard in EL Education classrooms all year to become great scholars and active citizens. It’s also a day to put knowledge to work in service of building a better world.
Find out what Conway Elementary students did to serve their community on Better World Day by viewing their challenge video above. Take the challenge by letting us know what you and your students will do to contribute to a better world. You can follow hashtag #BetterWorldDay on social media to see and share student challenge videos across the country.
Impact
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."
In the News
"Getting Smart to Do Good" is catching fire! See Better World Day and Better World Projects in the news across the country.
- San Diego Union Tribune highlights Conway Elementary School and the Escondido Union School District for their winning Better World Project: Escondido Super Stewards - Protecting and Serving Our Local Watershed.
- The Bulletin spotlights Interdistrict School for the Arts and Communication's Better World Project: Community Faces: Humanizing the Immigrant Label.
- This Week Community News: Graham Elementary and Middle School's project gives students glimpse of central Ohio’s many cultures
- We Rise Radio features Lodestar's podcasts on Islamophobia that are part of their Better World Project
- WHAM-TV featured Students at Genesee Community Charter School, who spent Better World Day creating a large mural in Rochester, NY that reflects the diverse stories of their city's residents.
- The Greenfield Recorder featured the Better World Day projects of students at Four Rivers Charter School. Four Rivers seniors showed off a range of research projects on topics like human trafficking and sexual harassment.
- ABC12 featured students from Greene Elementary School in Rhode Island, as they partnered with Eagle's Nest Charter School in Flint, Michigan to address the city's water crisis and bring fresh water to residents.
- Westword featured the work of Downtown Denver Expeditionary School as they joined with community partners to help create Denver's largest public mural.
- Moscow-Pullman Daily News shared an article about Palouse Prairie Charter School, where kindergarteners planted the beginnings of a small forest on a hill -- near the future site of the new Palouse Prairie Charter School building.
- Spokane Public Radio highlighted the work of Palouse Prairie Charter School fourth graders, who visited the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Lapwai to meet students and elders, to learn about Native history and to plant plants that had been donated by local businesses.
- Staten Island News featured students at Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School who spread kindness by painting kindness rocks to share at the boardwalk of Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk in South Beach on Staten Island.
- Glenwood Springs Post Independent highlights students at Glenwood Springs Middle School, who assembled bookmarks for the local library, distributed thank-you bags to police officers, firefighters, and other public service workers, picked up trash within the community, and sewed bags for children with severe disabilities.
- Manhattan Times featured the work of students at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS), an Outward Bound network school, who took part in a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project, where they learned lessons on social issues and philanthropy, and then paid it forward by awarding $2,500 in grant money to a local community-based organization