Build a Future for our Children
Join us in celebrating the United Nations’ World Children’s Day!
This day aims to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. We invite you to take a moment and think about the young people in our world, the tools we can provide that give them every opportunity possible, and the bright futures we hope for them.
Background on World Children’s Day
Each year, November 20 is dedicated to giving attention to children and remembering important milestones in the United Nations’ commitment to advocacy of children and their rights.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified international human rights treat and sets out a number of human rights, including the right to life, to health, to education and play, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be discriminated and to have their voices heard. Learn more about the value of The Convention from this UNICEF article.
You can also explore how children all over the world are using art on this day to design the kind of world they want. Find out more about the #voicesofyouth Illustration Challenge for this year’s World Children’s Day on the Voices of Youth website.
How ARCK is Advocating for Children
One key goal in the United Nations’ Development Programme is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” ARCK’s art-led STEM programs not only foster an inclusive learning environment, but also cultivate innovative and creative leaders for the future. Through ARCK’s lessons, students grow to understand themselves, their peers, and the world around them more every day. A well-rounded education should be accessible to every student, but in difficult times like these, it is the under-resourced schools and children who suffer the most. Now more than ever, ARCK works to provide quality education for ALL.
The past year has been especially difficult on our children as they have been living through a global pandemic and era of heightened social unrest. ARCK’s teachers and lessons work to help our children in under-resourced Boston Public Schools cope, heal, and share their voices through creativity.
Education is about more than sitting at a desk and calculating equations. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the purpose of education is to cultivate “the development of the child's personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.” One of the best ways to encourage children to express themselves and reach their fullest potential is through creativity. Due to COVID-19, our programs are now offered remotely, providing our students with a way to bring art into their lives while at home. At the start of our virtual programming, there was minimal interaction from our students, but ARCK has made it a priority to foster an environment where our students feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings and learn with and from each other. We use art and design to build students’ confidence - a tool that continues to be effective, as more students gradually turn their cameras on and engage intentionally with their teachers and peers. ARCK is also committed to breaking down accessibility barriers by providing art kits to each student we serve. These kits will include all materials necessary to complete our lessons this year from home, relieving the financial burden many families are already experiencing due to COVID-19.
Here's How You Can Help
Support ARCK’s Art Kit Drive initiative this Giving Tuesday: December 1, 2020. Donate any amount or purchase supplies from our Amazon Smile Wish List. Learn more and get started at https://www.arckboston.org/donate
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