PenPal News is a web-based app that connects middle and high school classrooms to discuss current events in six-week penpal exchanges. By reading news, students learn about real-world issues like immigration, poverty and the environment, and write to penpals about how these subjects relate to their own lives and communities.

Since launching in 2012 (in beta) over 11,000 students have used PenPal News to learn more about the world and each other. Whether connecting 8th graders in California with peers in Ghana, or 5th graders in rural Arkansas and New York City for our Red State - Blue State election year program, PenPal News strives to bring students from different backgrounds together to share experiences and find common ground.

Our app makes penpal exchanges easy for teachers to set up by automatically partnering classrooms (across geographic, cultural, and socio-economic lines) and matching students. All written communication happens on our web platform and is guided by a weekly curriculum designed to take 45 minutes in or out of the classroom.

The curriculum we've created uses a combination of self-produced animated videos and curated news stories with discussion questions to guide students through a structured written exchange. Find a sample of our 1-minute animated videos below:

Poverty - https://vimeo.com/54955691 Immigration - https://vimeo.com/45947201 Role of Government - https://vimeo.com/48746998 War and Conflict - https://vimeo.com/55948298 Environment - https://vimeo.com/55949156 Health Care - https://vimeo.com/46755035