The Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies (WCSS) recently held its annual conference at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club, bringing together K-12 educators from across the Midwest for two days of professional development. The conference serves as the leading forum for Wisconsin social studies teachers to access professional development, offering everything from keynote speakers and workshops to an exhibit hall full of new classroom resources.
The Wisconsin International Resource Consortium (WIRC) joined this annual gathering, hosting a table in the exhibit hall to connect directly with teachers and share the wide array of global resources available through the university’s international centers.
On the first day of the conference, Assistant Directors Andrea Fowler (Center for South Asia) and Essie Lenchner (IRIS NRC) led a session on the Teaching Forward Fellowship. This presentation showcased the collective efforts of the project team—including Nola Walker from UW–Madison Libraries—and featured members of the first fellowship cohort. These educators offered firsthand accounts of how the program’s focus on culturally sustaining materials and trauma-informed practices has directly improved student engagement and success in their own classrooms.
The Teaching Forward Fellowship leverages the existing outreach work of two National Resource Centers, the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS NRC) and the Center for South Asia (CSA). This project builds on strong relationships between project directors and educators across the state, as well as longstanding collaborations with UW–Madison Libraries, the WI Department of Public Instruction, the WI Council for the Social Studies, and the WI Association for Foreign Language Teachers.
Applications for the 2026–27 fellowship cohort will launch in May, inviting educators to join this professional community. To learn more, visit the Teaching Forward Fellowship Program website. To see more WIRC outreach and event opportunities, visit the WIRC website.
Story by Kayla Daum