(Photo by Jennifer Handrick)

National art honor society students at Chippewa Falls High School had the opportunity this year to create global connections in a unique medium: art. As part of the national Memory Project (memoryproject.org), Chi-Hi students created portraits of children facing significant challenges around the world, based on submitted photographs.

Once students completed their personalized portraits, they sent a photo of themselves back so the child could “touch the hand of the artist,” according to art teacher Jennifer Handrick.  “It helps them grow in their artistic skills, creates global connections and empathy for others, opens their eyes to the conditions many people are living in around the world, and, most importantly,” Handrick said, “it brings a smile and a feeling of being cared about to a child in a very difficult situation.”

You can check out each of the projects here.