My students need supplies, such as origami paper, leather cords and clasps to make fused glass necklaces that will be hand-delivered to 67 orphans in Belarus.
How do you help orphans (many with disabilities) in the former Soviet republic of Belarus? What kind of artwork can you send to Belarus that won't weigh too much in someones luggage?
Our school is a public, charter school with about 1600 students in grades K-12.
We have a big art program with 5 full-time teachers. We have a National Art Honor Society for high school students and a National Junior Art Honor Society for middle school students. This project is a "community service" project of our middle school art honor society consisting of 29 students. They are talented, eager, and they will do this project after school for several weeks.
My Project
Imagine learning about the history of glass from the Babylonians to the present, then brainstorming all the ways that glass is used in our society today. If you have ever seen dichroic glass you know that the beautiful, iridescent colors bedazzle young children. Our high school art program includes glass fusion and has many scraps of dichroic glass, plus the cutting tools, grinders and a large glass fusion kiln. The middle school honor society kids will have access to the "big kids" stuff after school for a few weeks for their volunteer project. They will learn to correctly and safely cut "compatible" glass in layers for "full" and "tack" fuse. But they cannot afford the additional glass blanks, bails, leather strings, clasps and other jewelry findings to turn each pendant into a completed necklace for one of the children at "Cafeindependance" in Belarus. We are fundraising to purchase some supplies not available from the donors choose catalogs, but your donations are needed!
Alexey Talai came to our school two weeks ago and inspired our students.
At the age of 16 he lost both arms and both legs from the blast of a leftover WWII landmine. Now 27 years old he is in the US on a fundraising trip and will return to Belarus the first week in May. Our middle school students want to have a necklace for each of the 67 orphans he assists, wrapped in a little paper note, for him to take back in his suitcase. To see photos and read about his project: www.cafeindependence.webs.com
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