Hershey Launches Innovative Distance Learning Program To Connect Children In U.S. And Rural Ghana

Based on the early success of the Hershey’s Learn to Grow: Ghana Distance Learning program, the partners have decided to extend the program – originally slated for 10 modules over two months – through the full academic year and explore opportunities to further expand the program.

“At Milton Hershey School, we try to emphasize to our students that they are a very important part of a bigger community, and this program takes it one step further,” said Dr. Anthony Colistra, President of the School. “Students are engaging with their peers in Ghana for valuable lessons in subjects like geography and science. While they are participating in this experiential learning exercise, they are also finding out that despite distance and cultural differences, they have a lot in common.”

The Ghana Distance Learning Program is one component of a comprehensive set of programs implemented by The Hershey Company to engage with cocoa communities and improve the lives of cocoa families around the world.

Students from both countries connect every two weeks and go through six structured lesson plans over the course of three months. The lessons help the students gain a better understanding of each other’s cultures and create a global connection. Students look at factors that impact daily life in each country, from climate and weather to understanding local geography. They also learn about how cocoa connects their respective local economies.

The students in Ghana live in one of the highest cocoa-producing regions in the world. Together, the students will learn how their countries partner to take cocoa from pod to a finished product. The Ghanaian students will share information about cocoa farming and learn how cocoa, the key ingredient to chocolate, is grown and where it originates.

The U.S. students and teachers, who live in the same town where some of the world’s most famous chocolate products are made, will share information about how the cocoa grown in Ghana becomes delicious chocolate products. The students in Ghana will get to taste chocolate bars made in Hershey, Pa., with many trying chocolate for the first time.

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