Teach SEL with Carmen Sandiego’s Fearless Kids Around the World

You don’t need to leave your classroom in order to take your class on an international field trip. In our new web series, Fearless Kids Around the World, Carmen Sandiego spotlights six real kids—one from each continent (except Antarctica!)—who are working to create positive change in their communities.

In the webisodes, each student models true social-emotional competencies by showing responsible decision making, conflict negotiation, self-confidence, social awareness, and perspective taking. When you’re looking for ways to make SEL relevant for your students, try starting with inspiration from these brave global students—and access our free activity resources to accompany each story.

Below, you can learn about each student’s background, where they’re from, and how they’re saving the world!

Protecting the Environment: Pablo from Colombia

Colombia is home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest—the Amazon rainforest! Pablo Cavanzo is a teen who lives in Colombia, and when he found out that the rainforest was being destroyed, he decided to take action.

Empowering Kids with Learning Differences: Siena from the United Kingdom

Growing up in London, teenager Siena Castellon struggled to communicate and concentrate—and she was bullied as a result. But when she was diagnosed with several medical conditions, Siena realized that most students would not have been mean if they had understood her diagnoses. So she made it her mission to empower people who seem “different” while educating those who might not understand.

Protecting Wildlife: Richard from Kenya

Kenya is famous because of the diversity of animals that live there, including “the Big Five”: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffalos. But teenager Richard Turere’s community struggled because hungry lions would regularly attack their livestock, like goats and cows. So when he was 13, Richard had the idea for his invention Lion Lights, motion-sensor light bulbs that shine when a lion is near, scaring them away and protecting farm animals.

Accessing Medical Care: Solomon from Australia

Solomon Cameron uses his flying skills to support a group called Angel Flight, an organization that helps people reach doctors and hospitals. At 12, he saved up money to take a flying lesson, and he hasn’t stopped since. When he was 15, Solomon became the youngest pilot to fly solo around Australia. He’s also helped raise money and awareness for Angel Flight, an organization that helps people reach doctors and hospitals. Solomon plans to continue using his high-flying skills to help others.

Speaking Up: Bana in Turkey

Bana is a kid from Syria, but she is living with her family in Turkey to stay safe during the war in her home country. During one of the worst times of the war, Bana started sending tweets from Aleppo, Syria, where she lived at the time. The world took notice of a kid tweeting from war-torn Syria, and since then, Bana has gained more than 300,000 followers on Twitter. She’s also written a book about her experiences in the war and as a refugee in Turkey.

Speaking Out: Devin from the United States

Devin Moore is from Long Island, New York, and he loves to write poetry. When he was 14, kids at his school started to bully him for his poems, taunting him online and at school. Devin decided to stand up to his bullies and started a campaign called #racetospeakup to help other kids dealing with bullies.

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Each Fearless Kids' webisode comes paired with free social-emotional learning activities following the CASEL framework to build relevant competencies. Download these SEL activities and lesson plans to inspire your students at carmensandiego.com/fearlesskids.

Learn how to integrate social and emotional learning across all subject areas with our SEL curriculum.