Art students at Terra Vista Middle School participated in a special project that connected them with other kids across the world. Art Teacher, Jana Garrison, was looking for a way to engage her students in class when she stumbled across "The Memory Project."

 

According to their website, The Memory Project attempts to create a kinder world through art and has connected more than 250,000 children and teens across the world. Dedicated to promoting intercultural awareness, friendship, and kindness between children worldwide, The Memory Project helps facilitate the creation and delivery of heartfelt artwork and poetry made by children for children, and strives to break cultural barriers, leave children with a unique childhood memory, inspire creativity, show children living in difficult situations that they are valued, and cultivate a kinder world. The program wants to empower teachers and students in their pursuit of the same goals.

 

Terra Vista students participated in a Global Art Exchange with students from Syria. Each student in Syria created a drawing or painting based on themes of happiness, peace, kindness, and friendship to share with their friends at TVMS. Then, TVMS art students responded with their own meaningful creation. To make the exchange even more personal, every child wrote their first name and age, attached a photo, and traced an outline of their hand on the back of their artwork for a long-distance high-five. Once students at TVMS finished their artwork, they mailed each piece to the children abroad. 

 

"The students absolutely loved this project," Garrison said. "I had seventy students participate and mail artwork abroad. They began researching Syria and are ready to participate in another art exchange."

 

The Memory Project sent a Thank You Video to the students at TVMS that showed the impact students in America are making all over the world. Take a look at some of the artwork below.