Interstate Scholars runs three initiatives: Interstate Stories, Virtual Exchange Scholars, and Interstate Scholars Program. The latter two are currently in the planning phase.
Each initiative is designed to engage high school students in learning about new communities, and to connect students who can support each other in the future. Additionally, both exchange programs will highlight community problem solving, and the in-person exchange will help inform students about their options for education after high school.
Interstate Stories is a space for high school students to share the people, places, and events that make their communities special. We offer a selection of prompts to spark your thoughts! Write us a short response based on whichever prompt you find most engaging, and share photos to support your story.
Once your response is ready, send it to us! We have a submission form online which includes guidelines and the prompt list. We will review what you send us for relevance and appropriateness and post it on the Interstate Scholars Instagram account.
You will also be able to hear what other students have to say, and see what they love, on the account.
Our virtual exchange program will connect students from different states to learn about each other’s communities. The program will run for 7 weeks, meeting twice a week for an hour each day (once after school and once during the weekend). Each week, one session will be devoted to a collaborative project, and the other to a guest speaker.
For the project, students from different schools will be paired up to discuss the similarities and distinctions between their communities. The pairs will design a presentation that highlights notable locations or events in their community, an issue in their community, and how they might approach solving said issue. Partners will provide feedback, and then the students will share the information about their partner’s community with the group. In this way, they will familiarize themselves with another community, based on a local’s perspective.
For the guest speakers, Interstate Scholars will invite notable members of each community to speak with the students. In particular, there will be a focus on leaders who work to solve community issues. In this way, students will learn about problem-solving strategies and how to adapt solutions to specific communities.
We invite alumni of this program to stay involved with Interstate Scholars, and in time build up a supportive network of creative, socially active individuals!
Our in-person exchange program will be a great chance for students to experience another community first-hand. We will partner with school districts in multiple states, and accept applications from students at any participating school. In particular, we aim to partner with schools in under-resourced communities, where student leaders often have few opportunities for educational travel.
Once we have accepted a student, we will pair them with a program participant from another state. Their two schools will have different spring break weeks. This is important, since each student will travel to the other’s community during their own spring break. That way, they will each have a chance to shadow their partner in a school setting, but will not miss any of their own school days.
Over the course of the exchange week, each student will:
- Stay with a local host family
- Monday-Tuesday: Shadow their partner at school
- Wednesday: Learn about options for continuing their education after high school, and visit local colleges, universities, or vocational schools
- Thursday-Friday: Learn about an issue that affects their host community and volunteer as part of a group at an organization that helps with this issue
- Reflect on similarities and differences between their home and host communities
Like the virtual exchange, we hope alumni of the in-person exchange will remain involved and support each other!
Interstate Scholars 