ONE-DAY CULTURAL IMMERSION PD

Cultural Immersion without leaving home!
Many educators would love to visit the countries their students and families are from to learn about their cultural backgrounds, but this is not always possible. What is the next best thing? Cultural immersion right in your own community! During this one-day professional development, Immigrant Connections will facilitate site visits around your town so you can learn more about key institutions in the lives of your immigrant students and families. Visits will be led by members of the cultural groups.

What are we offering you?

A chance to apply for a free professional development opportunity for 75 educators/staff in your school district this school year! The day will include morning site visits, a multicultural lunch, time for debriefing the visits, and a panel of local immigrant community leaders. All guides and site visits are paid for their time (typically about a $20,000 training), but thanks to a generous donation, we are offering one for free this school year! See here for a generic flyer about this PD.

Learning objectives of the training:

Demonstrate a basic understanding of at least one of the main immigrant / refugee populations in your community
Make connections with key institutions in the lives of immigrant and refugee students and families in your community.
Gain empathy and understanding of common issues facing immigrant and refugee students and families when interacting with schools.
Examine and reflect on one's own culture, particularly in relation to what is experienced in the site visits
Apply one’s increased cultural awareness to their work with students and families.

Interested? Here are the eligibility criteria to apply:

Must be a public school district (no charter or private schools) in one of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. (Note: We apologize we cannot include all states, but these are the priorities of the funder.)
Must not have already partnered with us to put on one of these trainings.
Must have at least 8% of your overall student population as English Learners (you can include those who have exited services)
Must commit to recruiting at least 65-75 participants for this training, which must include your Superintendent, one school board member, and your EL Coordinator as well as a mix of educators such as principals, central office staff, school counselors, classroom teachers, secretaries, and more. Participants cannot only be EL teachers.
Must be able to reserve a training location that can accommodate 80 people.
Must have at least one immigrant/refugee community-based organization within a 30 minute drive of wherever the training would be held in your school district.
Ideally, you have established relationships with at least some of the immigrant parent and community leaders in your area and can provide “warm hand-offs” to us in the beginning planning stages.

How to apply:

Fill out this short application (only 4 paragraphs!), but you will also need to upload a short letter from your Superintendent (signed and on letterhead), so be sure to have that ready before you fill out the rest of the application. Applications are due by September 12, 2025 at midnight (no exceptions).

See examples of past trainings here:

Questions?

Email any questions to Laura Gardner at laura@immigrantsrefugeesandschools.org. Any frequently asked questions that come in will be posted here.