HUMANE EDUCATION ADVOCATES REACHING

Teacher training:this year, heart has been operating the certified humane education specialist (ches) program nationwide, acquired at no cost from the academy of prosocial learning in january 2025. Ches provides high-quality training for traditional and non-traditional educators, offering two self-paced and three instructor-led courses and maintaining the only registry of credentialed humane educators. Affordable tuition ensures accessibility for teachers, mental health professionals, parents, caregivers, and others.we have been preparing this year to conduct a high-impact project to train 2,000 teachers in puerto rico this fall, reaching 247,000 students. In collaboration with the puerto rico department of education and federacion protectora de animales, heart will lead day-long workshops for approximately 250-300 teachers in each of seven regions to promote the welfare and protection of animals. Eight lead teachers will be certified through ches to support program sustainability. We will also be providing lessons and activities for k-12 teachers and we will have live translation services. This initiative addresses the island's stray animal crisis, neglect, and threats to wildlife and ecosystems while embedding empathy, prevention, and accountability in classrooms, creating lasting, scalable change by empowering educators to spark compassion in thousands of young people.this spring, we conducted our 45-hour, 3-credit humane education "solidarity, not charity" professional development course via the nyc public schools after school professional development program. The course, which qualifies schoolteachers toward a salary differential, focuses on enabling students to deeply engage with the unique qualities of the community they are serving and address issues that impact animals and people within that community.heart has partnered with the global federation of animal sanctuaries (gfas) to support its 200+ accredited sanctuaries in engaging young people. We provide free training and resources for members developing or expanding k-12 humane education programs. In march 2025, we hosted the webinar "effective humane communication techniques for sanctuaries," focused on compassionate engagement with youth and other visitors, and it is now publicly available on gfas's website.