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Empowering Teachers. Engaging Students. Growing Community.
For the past five years, we’ve worked to connect students with current events, develop media literacy skills, and help them engage meaningfully with their community. Through this work, one thing has become clear: teacher engagement is the key to successfully using local news in the classroom. At the heart of the next phase of Lookout in the Classroom (LOIC) is a simple, powerful idea: support teachers first, and the impact ripples outward—to students, classrooms, and entire communities.
This teacher-forward initiative gives every middle and high school educator full access to Lookout Local’s trusted local journalism, plus a robust weekly stream of curriculum-aligned, classroom-ready tools—quizzes, guides, lesson plans, and media literacy activities. Donors cover the cost—$160 per teacher per year—recognizing the vital role educators play in developing informed, civically engaged students.
In every community, teachers do the hard work of educating our kids and imparting life skills. Their jobs are often challenging, and that’s more true today than in the past. Let’s reward teachers with the gift of local connection – and see them pay it forward every day with their students.
The result? Students gain critical media skills. Teachers gain trusted tools. Lookout gains loyal new readers. Everyone wins.
From Santa Cruz to Lane County: Scaling a Proven Model
Pioneered in Santa Cruz by educator and community engagement lead Jamie Garfield, LOIC has already reached 100+ teachers and thousands of students across the county. This fall, Lookout intends to expand the program to Lane County, Oregon – and to do it in a new way, with great and continuing impact on the lives of the 1,200 middle and high school teachers and the 15,000 students across 13 school districts—from Eugene-Springfield to rural communities.
Our goal: Raise $192,000 to fund all 1,200 teachers at $160 per teacher per year.
We’re moving forward with Lookout for Teachers in Santa Cruz as well, building on the support of a lead donor, and then following with a public campaign, as part of Lookout’s fifth anniversary celebration.
Program Partnership: Visibility with Purpose
We are now seeking philanthropic sponsors to underwrite this community-building initiative. We have early interest from Lookout’s Founders Circle members and aim to start a public campaign after establishing an early (perhaps matching) grant. We’d like that grant to equal one-half of the needed total, or $96,000, which would then lead to a public launch in Eugene-Springfield.
Program Partners will gain:
- Wide public recognition of their role in supporting education in Oregon
- Recognition as a lead Program Partner of the teacher-first program, LOIC initiative on all public communication and within the initiative itself
- Association with a forward-looking civic education program that connects journalism, schools and the community
Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Kris Munro describes the impact of our program
“One of our jobs is to prepare students to be productive, informed citizens in a democracy. News is part of that. Being able to evaluate news sources, being able to evaluate information. Having local news is a gift, and it’s been a gift to have Lookout in our community. And we’re grateful to the Lookout team for making sure students have access to that local reporting.”
Program Highlights:
- Teacher-First: Supports underpaid, overworked educators with meaningful recognition and practical tools
- Flexible & Accessible: Includes Google Classroom–compatible formats and printable resources
- Student-Centered: Promotes local awareness, civic thinking, and real-world critical analysis
- Proven & Scalable: Delivers measurable impact and grows Lookout’s membership in the process
A Modern NIE — Built for This Era
This is Newspapers in Education redesigned for the 21st century: mobile-first, community-rooted, and impact-driven. With your partnership, we can fund access for every Santa Cruz County teacher—and every student they inspire.