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Outreach Materials

Outreach Assistance Program for K–12 Students

Help students find information about returning from abroad with outreach to others.

Outreach Steps for Students Returning from Abroad

Step 1 Advisement meeting

Start by contacting your Study Abroad office.

  • The Study Abroad office at your college or university may have an outreach program for returning study abroad students and may be able to offer advice on how to conduct outreach and gain access to different schools.
  • Even if the Study Abroad office does not have a formal program for outreach, they may be able to offer advice on how to proceed, including accessing local schools or contacting other offices that may be able to provide guidance and/or helpful resources.
  • Ask the Study Abroad office if it is possible to help them advertise their programs to other students. You may be able to sharpen your presentation skills by promoting study abroad to other college students on your campus before going into the community. We suggest always performing outreach in groups in order to ensure your safety at all times.

In the event that your study abroad office is not able to help you, you might:

  • Enlist the help of a faculty member at your school who has expertise and potential contacts for outreach projects and/ or study abroad. Pay particular attention to faculty members affiliated with Education, International Business, or other International Studies and Area Studies Programs and Institutes.
  • We suggest always performing outreach in groups in order to ensure your safety at all times.
  • Seek out other students returning from study abroad programs. Additional students will add a great deal to the information and breadth of experiences you will be able to communicate to your audience. Meanwhile, many of these students may have previous experience doing outreach and/ or ties to local schools.

Step 2 Contacting the high school, middle school, or elementary school

Given that K-12 campuses are generally closed to the public, you may have to contact the administrators and teachers as well as alumni and parents of local high schools, middle schools, or elementary schools that may help you access those schools. You may make use of your personal contacts (e.g. district and school administrators/staff/teachers, parents, or other university students who have access to and are affiliated with local elementary, middle and high schools) in order to gain access to schools for Study Abroad Outreach.

When presenting your ideas to local school or district administrators and staff, highlight how Study Abroad Outreach relates to the school's goals and curriculum.

Be aware of the principal's or teacher's requirements and preferences. Some contacts may be interested in certain global regions, religions, heritage or language programs, short term or long term programs, volunteer or aid work, and programs connected to certain social issues or fields of study. Work with your contacts to understand what type of presentation will be the most suitable for the school's interests and what will appeal most to the students you are attempting to reach.

Step 3 Plan your presentation

Consider working in a team
Enlist the help of another returning Study Abroad student or classmate to present with you! Having more than one person can increase the value of the presentation and make preparations less daunting. Working with partners also ensures that you are not traveling and presenting alone; we suggest always performing outreach in groups in order to ensure your safety at all times.

Download our Outreach Presentation plan sheet. This Outreach Presentation Plan is designed to help you plan your presentation.

Consider using one of our customizable PowerPoint presentations.. These PowerPoint presentations are available on this site under the Presentations link. They have been created as customizable templates for your own presentations about international study. You may personalize these presentations with your own information or by adding and removing particular slides as you see fit. There are five different presentations, targeting 4-year college/university students, students at community colleges, high school, middle school and elementary school.

Warm-Up activities for PowerPoint presentations. Before beginning the official presentation, warm-up activities can be used to introduce students to the concepts of study abroad and cultural appreciation. The activities are available on this site under Outreach Materials: Presentation. They target elementary, middle, and high school students.

Think about your audience. As you plan your session, think about who your audience is, how you will accomplish your objectives and how to keep your audience engaged. For example:

  • Who will I be speaking to?
  • What do they know about my topic already?
  • What will they want to know about my topic?
  • What do I want them to know by the end of my talk?

Incorporate interesting souvenirs. Souvenirs from your trip are indispensable for a quality presentation. At heart, this is a personal reflection of your trip and something the audience can see and hold is essential to keeping people interested.

Planning grade specific presentations. For example: When presenting to elementary and middle school level audiences, try to balance lecturing with Q & A and group participation. Break things down into 10 – 15 minute segments. Incorporate VKAT (visual, kinesthetic, auditory and tactile) communication as much as possible in your presentation especially with elementary grade levels.

Again, see the PowerPoint presentations available on this site, which are specifically geared toward elementary, middle school, high school, and 4-year university and community college students.

Consult resources. A variety of resources are available on this site under the additional resources link. Here you will find additional resources for teachers which include book lists, classroom activities, websites, etc. targeting elementary, middle, and high school students. You will also notice additional resources for parents and students which include book lists, computer games, etc. also targeting elementary, middle, and high school students.

Be aware of logistics. In your correspondence with principals and teachers, make note of logistical issues for your presentation including time allowed for your presentation, number of students expected, classroom location, directions, parking availability and access to multimedia resources.

Step 4 Giving your presentation

Involve the audience by asking occasional questions. Hypothetical questions are best as they show the gap between cultures. Try to ask genuine questions to which you do not already know the answer and show interest in any replies. Leave time for the audience to think. Try to avoid answering your own questions or telling members of the audience that their answers are wrong. Audience members should feel a sense of accomplishment after answering questions, knowing that they have contributed to the presentation.

Pause occasionally to ask if audience members have questions for you. You can also pause occasionally to ask if anyone has any questions for you. If a question disrupts the flow of your talk too much, you can say that you will answer it later (but don't forget to do it!). Before you ask for questions, make sure you are ready to pick up your presentation again when the Q & A session has finished.

Use visual aids. To make a presentation livelier and help audience members follow your presentation. Many issues are communicated much more clearly with visual aids than through speech alone.

The two most common forms of visual aids are overhead transparencies and computer slide shows (e.g. PowerPoint). Objects that can be displayed or passed around the audience can also be very effective and often help to relax the audience. Some speakers provide printed handouts to the audience to follow as they speak. Others prefer to give their handouts at the end of the talk, because they can distract the audience from the presentation.

Step 5 Evaluation of presentation

Seek out opportunities to improve in all areas of your Study Abroad Outreach.

Review the overall success of the presentation as well as planning issues, planning in general, and collaboration with contacts/advisors.

After your presentation, study abroad students should maintain strong communication with advisors, fellow presenters, teachers and school administrators/staff, in working together to create more innovative and more relevant presentations for future students.

We hope that you found this information useful. We welcome your questions, comments, and useful resources you'd like to share! Please contact us at info@allabroad.us.