Many world affairs councils run school programs in conjunction with their local, regional, or statewide school systems. These programs work collectively with 34,000 teachers and have impact on 1,500,000 students each year. Councils tend to focus primarily on high schools, but they also work with colleges and universities, schools of continuing education, and elementary and middle schools. The council system publishes curriculum materials that are widely used in classrooms around the country.

Academic WorldQuest
The national association hosts the championship competition in Washington, DC each year for this event.  In order to compete, a team must have won a competition sponsored by one of the over 40 local World Affairs Councils that host a local Academic WorldQuest.  Topics vary to include international organizations, world and regional geography, as well as Current Events and People in the News.  The competition is a way for high school students to engage in world affairs and meet students from across the country.

WORLD IN TRANSITION SERIES The Southern Center for International Studies in Atlanta creates multi-media teaching materials for use in history and social studies classrooms. Their series World in Transition includes Latin America in Transition, East Asia in Transition, Europe after the End of the Cold War, The End of the Soviet Union, The Middle East in Transition, and Russia and the Other Former Soviet Republics in Transition. This series has been adopted by several state school systems and is used by tens of thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of students around the country. Several world affairs councils join with the Southern Center in expanding the use of World in Transition series in local or state school systems.

GREAT DECISIONS In conjunction with the Foreign Policy Association in New York, many world affairs councils run Great Decisions programs in colleges and universities, schools of continuing education, or secondary schools, as well as through community discussion groups. Each year in January, the FPA publishes a new briefing book with eight foreign policy and international issues chosen for intensive discussion. Participants then add their views to a national opinion survey, which is presented to the Secretary of State and other key officials in the US government. This opinion poll helps to shape US foreign policy choices. The current emphasis in the Great Decisions program is expanding its use as a teaching instrument on campuses and expanding the PBS discussion series that accompanies it from eight to thirteen programs. There are currently about 300,000 participants in the Great Decisions program. My Wonderful World WACA is a coalition partner of -the National Geographic in this campaign to improve the global literacy of young people ages 8-17.  The campaign consists of a website, teacher's workshops, TV programs, and materials for parents and teachers.

MODEL UNITED NATIONS Several councils sponsor Model United Nations, Model Arab League, or Model Organization of American States programs with their local, regional, or state school systems. Participating classes or schools usually represent a particular country in conducting UN General Assembly or Security Council sessions as they confront the major international issues of the day. Sometimes these programs involve student trips to New York to see UN operations first-hand.

Students at Buffalo's Model United Nations.

TEACHER WORKSHOPS
Councils offer teachers skill-building programs to improve their knowledge of current international issues. Programs are tailored to local curricula or involve extracurricular activities. The Southern Center in Atlanta offers teacher-trainer workshops around the country in the use of the World in Transition series. In 2005 WACA offered a Teachers' Workshop on the European Union and in 2006 the workhop focused on Africa.

EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
Some councils participate in the International Visitors Program organized by the State Department. Council school programs can then provide access to prominent foreign guests as visiting speakers, home-stay opportunities with local families, intercultural events, field trips with visitors, and language learning opportunities. Councils also participate in other exchange programs organized through the American Field Service, Youth for Understanding, neighboring colleges, and other organizations.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER SEMINARS
Several councils run international career seminars, at both the high school and college level. A career seminar typically features several speakers from different occupational backgrounds: international business, development, diplomacy, intelligence, military, travel, academia, health, media, or similar fields. Speakers outline the basics of the career, needed qualifications, the pro's and con's of career fields, and field student questions. On other occasions, councils organize lunches or dinners for students with a person prominent in a particular international field. In one case, a council actually sponsors an international job fair, bringing together young people in the 20-30 age range with prospective employers.

	SPEAKERS Council speakers are sometimes invited to speak in school programs along with speaking to the membership. Some councils also run a special speakers series for schools, often involving local council members speaking in schools. Teachers and students are often invited to attend world affairs council programs even though they are not members.
Houston students interview Lech Walesa.

FIELD TRIPS
Councils sponsor or organize local visits to consulates, military bases, corporate sites, or media facilities. They may also run out-of-town trips to Washington, New York, San Francisco, and other major cities to meet with embassies and international organizations or to participate in conferences or special events. Occasionally councils organize or provide scholarship funds for foreign trips for students to Mexico, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, or Asia.

STUDENT WORKSHOPS
Some councils offer discussions, computer simulations, and other role playing exercises for students. They conduct workshops with teachers as a part of the regular curriculum, as a part of extracurricular activities, or during the summers. A typical structure of these events is for a group of students, classrooms, or schools to play the role of a country and to try to resolve international issues through communication and negotiation. The model UN has this underlying structure as well.

SCHOLARSHIPS
A small number of councils give student scholarships for travel, for summer activities, for special accomplishments, or for full or partial tuition in college.

INTERNSHIPS
Most councils have internship programs which provide opportunities for high school, college, or graduate school students to learn about international affairs, non-profit work, or administration as a prelude to work or career. Councils have about 200-300 interns annually.

STUDENT CLUBS
Pacific and Asian Affairs Council has a system 23 high school clubs around Hawaii involving some 400 members. These student-run clubs focus on developing leadership skills and creating an awareness of international issues and have 30 - 90 members each. PAAC provides speakers and organizes student conferences, roundtable discussions, international issues simulations, and community service projects. The council receives a state grant and gets smaller additional grants to run this 45 year-old program.