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How can you find the under-reported news stories that matter to you, and turn your responses into action? Students and educators explore these questions in the recorded webinars below. These webinars guide participants in summarizing news stories they care about, making local connections to global issues, and identifying solutions in their own communities. Participants explored how to structure persuasive letters to their representatives that argue for an action on a global issue as part of the 2020 Local Letters for Global Change student writing contest.
In this webinar for educators, which was hosted in partnership with The Washington Teachers' Union, participants reviewed the under-reported story “The Impact of the Palm Oil Industry on Indonesian Farmers and the Environment” by photojournalist Xyza Cruz Bacani. They then evaluated a letter written in response to this story by 2018 contest winner Isabelle Kolleth. After that, educators explored how to use the search filter at www.pulitzercenter.org/reporting, and practiced composing letters for the Local Letters for Global Change writing contest using two news stories from Time for Kids editor Jaime Joyce.
In this webinar for grades nine and up, participants also reviewed the under-reported story “The Impact of the Palm Oil Industry on Indonesian Farmers and the Environment” by photojournalist Xyza Cruz Bacani and evaluated a letter written in response to this story by 2018 contest winner Isabelle Kolleth.
In this webinar for upper elementary and middle school students, participants reviewed the under-reported story “In Brazil, Fires and Deforestation Threaten Amazon Species’ Survival” by journalists Amna Nawaz, and Mike Fritz. Students then evaluated a letter written in response to this story by 2019 contest finalist Lucia Mejia Cardenas.
The Pulitzer Center invites students, educators, and parents/guardians to view the webinars above at their convenience to learn more about the Local Letters contest. Find complete contest guidelines here and click here to see last year's winners!
This year’s deadline is Friday, November 13th at 11:59PM EST. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to schedule a Local Letters workshop for your classroom.