The
WIIT Charitable Trust: Bringing International Trade Education to the Classrooms
and Beyond
Introduction
2005-2006 has been yet
another busy year for the WIIT Charitable Trust as the committee continues
its efforts to refine and disseminate its trade education module for high
school students. The trust has also been hard at work on its first grant proposal,
submitted to the Cafritz Foundation, and is awaiting feedback in July. The
Trust looks forward to another dynamic and exciting year in 2006-2007, and
invites you to join its efforts to promote knowledge and understanding of
international trade and business.
Trade Education Project
After last year's work
on the trade education project, which included hiring a teacher to standardize
and structure the eight completed lesson plans as well as "beta-testing"
these lessons in classrooms, the Trust this year began the process of training
teachers to use its educational material. The Trust held a workshop on September
22nd for teachers interested in learning more about the Trust's module, "Teaching
International Trade Concepts." Liese Wright coordinated the workshop.
She, with Mary Alexander, Monique Roske, and Jennifer Mulveny, taught the
workshop. Four secondary school teachers (representing Montgomery County,
Prince George's County, and Fairfax County) participated in the workshop,
which educated the teachers about the lesson plans. An additional benefit
of this conference was the invaluable educator feedback that provided the
Trust with several suggestions on ways to improve the trade education project's
visibility.
The teaching module is currently being distributed on CDs, at the request
of several educators and organizations. Some recipients of the CDs include
the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR); the Washington Council on
International Trade (WCIT) in Seattle, Washington; the Organization of Women
in International Trade (OWIT); the Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, MD;
the Director of International Business and Education at the SW Virginia Higher
Education Center; and local secondary teachers in the Washington, DC area.
To achieve a wider implementation of the "Understanding International
Trade Concepts" module, the Trust hopes to participate in the National
Teacher's Conference in September 2006. It also plans to have at least one
of its members make a presentation about the Trust and its trade education
project at the annual OWIT Conference on September 14-15 in San Francisco.
Additionally, the Trust has continued to discuss ideas for forming partnerships
with other trade organizations to increase the visibility of the Trust and
to profit from the combined strengths of all organizations involved. The Trust
is currently in the process of partnering with WCIT (Washington Council on
International Trade) and hopes to continue to expand its programs by identifying
more organizations that would benefit from a partnership with the Trust.
The Trust is publicizing its trade education project by distributing its "International
Trade in the Classroom" brochure that was created by the 2005 University
of Richmond summer intern, Suezy Vaughn. Thus far, the brochure has been distributed
to many WIIT members and interested teachers, and it will be used as a marketing
tool both at the National
Teacher's Conference and the annual OWIT Conference.
In the coming months,
the Trust will continue to revise and review the educational material to enhance
its effectiveness in the classroom. Future supplements to "Understanding
International Trade Concepts" will likely include more detailed background
reading on trade so that teachers feel more comfortable with the content of
the lessons. The Trust also intends to gather more feedback on the effectiveness
of the CDs and lesson plans. Finally, to expand its support for various trade
education projects, the Trust is considering sponsoring a study entitled "The
Social Impact of Trade on Women" to determine why trade is perceived
to have such a negative impact on women. Data from this study would help the
Trust tailor the trade education program to address public perceptions about
the impact of trade on women.
Grant Proposal
In mid-February (in advance
of the March 1st deadlines), the Trust submitted a grant proposal to the Cafritz
Foundation, a local foundation supporting education and arts programming in
the Washington, DC area, and it is currently awaiting a July response from
the Foundation. While it would be unusual for an organization to obtain a
grant on its first try, the Trust expects to receive feedback that will allow
it to fine-tune its future efforts to obtain funding.
The proposal requested funding from Cafritz to deepen, expand, and complete
the Trust's current international trade education project. As this proposal
was the first grant application made by the Trust, its completion was a substantial
undertaking. Mary Alexander and Mary Lou Egan led the grant preparation effort.
The finished proposal will serve as a template for future grant applications
and will help the Trust complete these proposals more effectively and efficiently.
The Trust is in the process of researching other potential grant-makers and
hopes to submit a second grant application sometime in the near future.
Website Development
The Trust saw a need to
enhance its website to make it more informative and more professional in appearance.
After publishing a Request for Proposals in the fall, the Trust hired Alliance
Management to maintain and update the website for the next year. The Trust
is excited about the information it wishes to provide on the website, and
invites you to stay up-to-date on its activities by visiting http://www.wiittrust.org.
Fundraising
The Trust wishes to thank
WIIT for donating the proceeds of its annual Christmas Gala Silent Auction
to the Trust. The Trust also extends its deepest gratitude toward the many
individual donors who have graciously contributed funds to the organization.
These generous donations will have a significant impact on the quality and
longevity of the trade education program and are vital to the continued success
of the Trust.
Getting Involved
The Trust is constantly
recruiting new members and welcomes you to participate in its activities.
The Trust invites interested individuals to consider joining committees such
as Trade Education, Public Relations, and Fundraising. For more information
on the Trust, please visit its website and use the "Contact Us"
feature. The Trust looks forward to hearing from you!