Schools without trained teachers are just empty buildings.

This fact led a US-based team of educators to an interview with a Haitian school leader where they asked if there was anything they could do to help. His response was that his teachers indeed needed training. For four months, they committed countless hours to this endeavor. In April 2011, a small group from the team presented their first professional development seminar at Nehemiah Vision Academy in Haiti. Creation of manuals, PowerPoints, materials, and certificates were the backbone of three years of work with this school. Approximately 10 modules were written in French and English, all presented and revised to a dedicated group of 25 Haitian educators, thanks to the NVM staff and a group of committed people from the Greater Boston area.

In 2013, the team concluded that the success and reception of these seminars could benefit more Haitian educators. They decided to test two things. Could the team travel to other parts of the country and maintain the professional seminar experience? And, could the seminars be effective in larger settings? Scripts to guide multiple instructors were formally drafted to complement the manuals. Through 2014-2016, TTT (Teachers Training Teachers) expanded to five locations, hosting seminars of 100 participants at each seminar. By this time, TTT had created more modules, refined in presentation to 500 Haitian school leaders and teachers, thanks to US instructors, interpreters, and operations staff.

The next goal was to reach more educators, but it was quickly realized that this would require a significant number of instructors and interpreters. The staff unanimously agreed that TTT was not going to become a "sending" organization for people who wanted to serve in places like Haiti, but that it was strictly in the business of training teachers and school leaders. As TTT transitioned from an original team of volunteers to a staff-led, board governed non-profit organization, TTT (now, Teaching Training Together) finalized its professional development program to become three seminars over one academic year.

From 2017-2018, TTT invested time and money to professionally film the instructor portion for the content. The content would be housed in video segments alongside alternating workshops throughout the modules. All content would be standardized, and the video segments would allow the participants to join a simulated seminar with the voice of a consistent English-speaking instructor and dubbed for the French program. The manuals came alive as diagrams, photos and other tools interacted with the participant manuals. Alongside this project, TTT created a certification program for qualified Nationals to become Facilitators who could guide participants through the workshops. Trained Facilitators could circulate among table groups, speaking the local language while participants discussed, asked questions, and worked to complete tasks.

A necessary project was initiated in 2018 to capture in writing everything they knew about how to host a TTT seminar. Two years later, three booklets were drafted to represent all that was done to deliver an excellent seminar experience, much like the idea of a franchise. This exercise brought the organization to realize that the program was ready and equipped to solicit Partners in Haiti and in other French or English-speaking areas around the globe. A scholarship program was initiated to seek interested and qualified persons to launch TTT in their communities. They developed a seven-week remote training program to train Certified Partners, if awarded the scholarship. A scholarship allows a Partner to train 30 participants per year, over three years.

TTT's journey has been characterized by diligence and commitment with a goal to create a product of excellence for the benefit of underserved teachers and school leaders in and outside of Haiti. Through teacher training, TTT hopes to ultimately impact the next generation of students through more effective classroom instruction.