Art students connect with children in Vietnam through the Memory Project

For the third time in the past few years, students at West Boylston High School under the direction of art teacher Sheila Tetler have joined the Memory Project, a nationwide initiative in which art students create original portraits for children around the world who have been orphaned, neglected, or disadvantaged (www.memoryproject.org). 

Given that children in such situations often have few personal keepsakes, the purpose of the portraits is to provide them with a special memory of their youth, to honor their heritage and identity, and to help them build a positive self-image.  The project also provides an opportunity for young Americans to open their hearts to children who have endured many hardships, and to promote the value of sharing kindness with others.

The Memory Project has been featured on national television several times, most notably when Katie Couric concluded her very first broadcast of the CBS Evening News with a story about the project’s success at an orphanage in Nicaragua.  The project has also been covered by major newspapers and magazines throughout the country, all telling the story of students who have participated. 

            Fourteen students at West Boylston High School are participating as part of a course titled Studio Art Honors.  The students received photos of children who are waiting for portraits, and then worked in their art classroom to create the portraits.  Once finished, the Memory Project delivers the portraits to the children – this year fourteen children in Vietnam.  The student artists are seniors Hannah Acomb, Maddie Blodgett,  Lexi Bourne, Jenna Coviello, Amy Javier, Zack Luthman, Corey Marsh, Sarah Raymond, Brian Ryder, and Samantha Shepard and juniors Heather Cotter, Audrey Corcoran, Olivia Paige and Courtney Ryder,         

The Memory Project is a program of the nonprofit organization My Class Cares based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Since the project began in 2004, more than 30,000 portraits have been produced by art students around the country.