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Participate Learning

@participatelearning

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Expanding opportunities through global learning, cultural exchange, and language immersion—preparing students with skills for their future careers. 🌎📚

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Special delivery from Belize! 💌🇧🇿

Laura Cantun spent five years teaching, learning, and leading in the United States—and this summer, she returned to Belize ready to put that growth into action. 💫

Her Ambassador Teacher story began in 2021, when Laura entered her third-grade classroom at Prince William County Public Schools with 22 years of teaching experience and a piece of Belize with her. Her students discovered her culture through the stories and perspectives woven into her lessons, while Laura embraced life in the United States—snow days and all. She also explored new approaches to instruction and grew as both a leader and mentor.

After completing the five-year program and graduating with the Class of 2026, Laura returned home with an expanded perspective shaped by her time in Virginia and more than two decades in Belizean classrooms.

Today, she brings that breadth of expertise to her new role, collaborating with fellow educators to turn classroom challenges into practical, student-centered strategies.

That’s cultural exchange coming full circle: Laura’s growth as an Ambassador Teacher now supports the growth of other educators—and the students they teach. 💙

The postcards capture the milestones, but The San Pedro Sun shares the fuller story. Follow the final stamp to our bio! 📬 by @participatelearning

Hi, we’re Participate Learning! 👋

Whether you’ve been following along for years or just found us recently, we thought our 39th anniversary week felt like the perfect time to properly introduce—or reintroduce—ourselves! 😉

Scroll through to learn a little more about who we are, the work we care deeply about, and the people behind it all. ➡️

Thanks for being here and taking a few minutes to get to know us a little better. 💙

What originally brought you to our page? Was it cultural exchange, dual language, career readiness, classroom ideas, or something else entirely? Tell us in the comments! by @participatelearning

Let’s play a game! ➡️🧑‍🏫💭✨ by @participatelearning

What better way to wrap up October than by welcoming two more Ambassador Teachers? 💙

Our newest arrivals joined us from Ecuador and Peru for Arrival Orientation last week, just in time to see our office decked out for Halloween! 🎃👻💀

To both of you, thank you for spending these first few days with us. We're excited for everything ahead of you and can't wait to see the connections you'll make with your students and school communities over the next five years! 👩‍🏫🇺🇸

Enjoy a few moments from their Arrival Orientation! 📸 by @participatelearning

Trick or treat, take a seat! 🎃 We’ve got an October Rewind that’s pretty sweet. From happy reunions and new arrivals to costumes and some very suspicious snacks, here’s a look at our month! 😂📸

Did you hear that? Proud Ambassador Teachers, coming through! 📣💙

Ambassador Teachers spotted in the wild! 👀💙 Our team member Lauryn ran into these two at a homecoming parade, where they were marching alongside their elementary school students. There’s something pretty wonderful about seeing familiar faces become part of the local community!

The unofficial warm-up to Fall Orientation: getting everything packed with this amazing crew. 📦

When your teammates live all over the place, being in the same room deserves a photo. 🥹 Our Admissions team got some much-appreciated face time in October, with licensure work and meetings on the agenda.

Not a bad way to kick off the weekend in Virginia! 🌅 Our Instructional team made time to catch up before Fall Orientation began.

One weekend, so many people to catch up with! 💙 There’s something special about getting first-year Ambassador Teachers together with others who know exactly what this experience feels like.

We’d like to know how long some of these costumes were in the making. Because the creativity? Absolutely worth applauding. 😂🎃👏

Good ideas deserve more than a spot in your notes! 💡 At ECPPS’s annual IGNITE day, teachers explored how to deepen cultural understanding and turn classroom ideas into action. Our Global Leaders team loved being part of the conversation again this year!

Everyone in the frame? Perfect! 🤳 Our CEO, David Young, joined this group of Ambassador Teachers for a selfie during Arrival Orientation!

Durham’s turn! 📍 Another Fall Orientation weekend meant more chances for first-year Ambassador Teachers to ask questions, share stories, and hear from people cheering them on.

And just when we thought we’d seen all the costumes, North Carolina had a few more surprises for us. 😂👻 We’re starting to think these weekends need their own costume hall of fame. 👏

Imagine arriving for your cultural exchange journey and finding these guys on the welcome committee. 💀 Our Halloween-week Ambassador Te by @participatelearning

Still deciding on a Halloween costume? Our Ambassador Teachers and staff might give you a few ideas. 🎃👀

Swipe through some creative looks from Fall Orientation this month, plus a few favorites from earlier celebrations!

Your turn—whether it’s your first Halloween costume or your fifth, what are you dressing up as? 👻 by @participatelearning

Another round of congratulations belongs to three North Carolina school communities! 🎉💙

Belvoir Elementary School, Alexander Wilson Elementary School, and International School at Gregory are among the 18 Global Leaders partners receiving state recognition.

Their educators have approached global education in ways colleagues can learn from:
🚒 Belvoir Elementary School | Pitt County Schools
Helped children make connections between visiting professionals’ careers and the skills they practice themselves.

🌱 Alexander Wilson Elementary School | Alamance-Burlington School System
Gave first graders a place to apply science through composting projects in their gardens

🤝 International School at Gregory | New Hanover County Schools
Connected staff committee responsibilities with curriculum and family engagement

Together, these examples illustrate how career readiness can become part of academic instruction and the planning that supports it.

Through Participate Learning’s alignment with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), existing Showcase and Accomplished designations now bring corresponding Model and Prepared honors.

Congratulations to everyone behind these achievements! 👏 The full celebration in our bio offers more ideas to bring to your next planning conversation.

@belvoir_eagles @pittcountyschools @absspublic @newhanovercosch by @participatelearning

We have a feeling Amanda could talk about Franklinton Elementary all day. 🌎✨ And we'd happily listen! 🙂‍↕️

As the school's Global Leaders strategy coach, Amanda Bikowski has plenty to celebrate, especially the ways students are stepping up for one another, taking charge of their learning, and building skills that will prepare them for future careers. 🏫🎓

Hear what has made her proud, then find Franklinton's story in our Global Leaders Yearbook at the link in our bio. 📖

@fcschoolsnc by @participatelearning

Ambassador Teachers Felipe and Daniela had something extra to fit into their Fall Orientation weekend—photographing it. 📸✨

We handed them cameras in Durham and asked them to take pictures as they went. With no screen to check after each shot, looking through the results afterward was a treat.

Our team documents these gatherings, but we love having photos taken by the educators who attend, too. Thank you, Felipe and Dani, for adding yours to the collection! by @participatelearning

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools, it's your turn in the yearbook spotlight! 📸👏

We've gathered photos from all eight of the district's Global Leaders schools, and there's something different to discover in each one.

You'll see students testing water quality, exploring cultural traditions, reflecting on empathy, and finding ways to contribute to their communities.

It's a wonderful reminder of how many forms global learning can take throughout a school year.

Flip through the carousel and help us give these students and educators a round of applause! 🎉

Then keep the celebration going with the full 2025–26 Global Leaders Yearbook, featuring schools from across our network, via the link in our bio! by @participatelearning

Familiar faces ✅
Fresh classroom ideas ✅
Encouragement to go around ✅
An epic costume contest ✅✅✅🎃

Our North Carolina Fall Orientation crew brought so much energy to Durham. We’d happily have kept this group a little longer! 💙

With our first-year Ambassador Teachers a few weeks or months into U.S. life, we loved hearing how things are going. They brought their experiences into instructional sessions with our staff, tried new classroom strategies, and compared ideas with colleagues who understand the transition.

That connection came through in the cultural exchange skits, too. There was plenty to relate to, and nobody held back on the acting. 😂🎭 Thank-you postcards offered a quieter moment to recognize people who’ve helped them settle in.

Of course, we couldn’t spend Saturday together without a celebration. Our Dual Language team’s Crazy Crayons joined Minions, M&M’s, peanut butter and jelly, and more for a costume contest that deserved every extra check mark. 👏🎃

Sunday meant a few more photos, longer goodbye hugs, and encouragement to keep in touch. The weekend ended, but our support continues throughout their exchange. 🫶

Were you with us in Durham, or have you attended either Fall Orientation gathering? What’s something that’s stayed with you? by @participatelearning

✈️ ¿Sos docente y soñás con enseñar en Estados Unidos? 🇺🇸

A través de Participate Learning podés hacer realidad esta experiencia.

🎓 Conocé los beneficios, requisitos y cómo aplicar.

📌 ¡Compartilo con un docente que sueñe en grande! by @participatelearning