About

CLASS-ACT
Through our Children's Global Art Exchange Program we connect local children with those in developing world schools through the exchange of the children’s artwork (a photo portfolio exchange between a US and a Cambodian girl is seen in the photos above). The core of our mission is to enable children in our own local community to understand the value of service, develop a sense of global responsibility, and grow as individuals and committed global citizens. Several of our advanced programs support self-sustaining projects in the developing world through a separate micro-lending fund. As we introduce children to global issues at a young age we believe that we are building a future with more cooperation, peace and understanding between nations.

THE MAIN PROCESS
1.Class-ACT identifies schools in the developing world that need financial support (for books, chairs, desks, computers, art supplies, etc.)

2.We then "link up" a local school art program in the US to our "adopted" developing world school, where we concurrently fund an art program. We then facilitate the exchange of this artwork between the children. Through this process teachers, classrooms and children across time zones, countries, and cultures, create meaningful connections that provide possibilities for greater global awareness and understanding.

3.Children in the US classroom then use their Class-ACT funded art program as the basis for a fundraising campaign to support the "adopted" school. (Funds raised by the children and parents in the US school are periodically matched by local businesses, corporations and individuals who share in the vision.)

4.As the relationship matures with the school community in the developing world, we use extra Class-ACT funds to create opportunities whereby the school and its parent population can access micro-loans to start businesses that support their families and the school.
Positive Outcomes
Cultural Enrichment:
The positive energy generated by Class-ACT programming both here and abroad brings not only transferable skills for children that build confidence and enhance academic excellence, but also carries into neighborhoods, providing cultural enrichment for families and the community at large.

PERSONAL GROWTH:
At Class-ACT we believe the best way to elevate the human race is to provide future generations around the world with personal growth opportunities. In the developing world we strive to design programs that lead to sustainability. And locally, by linking classrooms through cultural art programs we provide our children with giveback opportunities to improve service learning, increase global awareness, teach empathy for other cultures, and develop personal responsibility for world unity.

EDUCATION:
Education is key to a carving out a better future for many struggling areas of the world, and Class-ACT is forming links to facilitate this process - school to school, classroom to classroom, person to person, and children to children. The partnerships grow with "art" as the common language.