By LEXY STEPPLING

For the past three years, art teacher Cheryl Foote has inspired her art students to volunteer for Project Memory, in which students create portraits of children from foreign orphanages based on their photos. The finished projects give the orphans a sentimental item to keep and to help build their confidence.

 “It’s a way of saying to these kids who feel neglected that our students care and are thinking about them,” Foote said.

The project rewards the students equally, because it utilizes their own skills to give back positively to the community, as well as teaching an art lesson, Foote said. Some of the challenges of drawing the children, Foote said, result in a learning experience that allows students to express ethnicity in their portraits.

“It is probably the only thing that allows me to use my talents in art to make a difference in lives,” Project Memory participant Vivianne Mozzocco said.

Foote said she suspects the positive turnout to be the result of Project Memory being a non-curriculum project for students in Studio Art III and IV classes; she does not grade art created for Project Memory. The project is open to all members of National Art Honors Society.

“I feel like I know the kid for all of the hours I spent drawing him. It’s an amazing way that we interact with these kids,” participant Bridgette Mekkelsen said.

The orphanages are located in such countries as Haiti, Peru, and most recently Honduras. The children’s photos are assigned to Baldwin students during the month of January, and the students work on the projects as they can until they finish.

Baldwin’s participation can be traced to a postcard Foote received from The Memory Project three years ago. After approaching her students with the idea, they responded with excitement, she said.  Her goal for the next years is to increase awareness of the event.

National Art Honors Society covers the cost of the project through various fundraisers and club activities.

The project was created in 2004 by Ben Schumaker. While visiting South America, he noticed that the orphans lacked sentimental possessions.