Eleven years ago, Bethlehem Central Middle School teacher Bill Reilly was on the Hudson River aboard the Half Moon replica ship with a handful of his students witnessing the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
In shock, it was there he realized educators around the world needed to come together to teach tolerance to avoid future acts of violence.
“Instead of reaching across the world with guns and bombs, I decided we needed to reach across the world with education and understanding,” he said.
Not long afterwards, through the help of the school district and other members of the community, Reilly began the Global Coalition Project. It is an organization that promotes peace, education and understanding between students around the world.
About 25 schools and 500 students from around the world participate in the program. About 118 of those students each year are the sixth grade social studies students from BC Middle School. The students exchange emails and packages back and forth, collaborate on projects, exchange artwork and chat via webcam.
Reilly said the project helps the students learn about different cultures and become more familiar with the world outside of their comfort zone. The Global Coalition is also weaved into their social studies lesson plans through a “Have and Have Not” unit. BC students learn how a third of the world’s population lives on less than $1 a day, and that children in many parts of the world are unable to attend school because of the cost.
“They (the students) start realizing about socio-economic differences,” said Reilly. “We then give them projects to help impact the world for the better. It’s a great way for them to start to become global leaders.”
The organization recently began a global micro-lending bank that has helped nearly 100 people from around the world start a small business. Reilly said his students are in charge of vetting the applications of those who apply for a $25 loan. Then they pick the businesses they feel will succeed and are in charge of making sure the loan gets repaid.
The start-up money for the banking project was donated by the Casey family of Bethlehem.
Reilly said, “It’s amazing what sixth-graders can accomplish when they work together.”
Throughout the year, the social studies classes also collect the artwork sent to them from the various schools in the Global Coalition. At the end of each year the artwork is then auctioned off and the proceeds are donated to an area in need. This year the proceeds will go to the not-for-profit organization The Giving Circle in Saratoga where they will assist the group in building a school in a poor Ugandan village.
The auction will feature 100 pieces of art from 11 different countries this year. The hope is to raise about $3,000.
“Kids from around the world have contributing their art to help our cause,” said Reilly. “The fact is most of these students come from places where they are so poor they would never have been able to contribute themselves, but by sending it to us they can help raise the money. Some of it even goes back into their communities.”
The International Children’s Art Auction is being held on Thursday, May 17, at the Bethlehem Central Middle School Library Media Center. The art preview will be held from 6:30 to 7 p.m. with the auction from 7 to 9 p.m. There is a $2 admission fee, which includes light refreshments and string performances during the art preview.
Reilly said 50 to 100 people attend each year, many of whom specifically collect a certain genre of children’s art.
“We have some really stunning art. Some of the stuff from students in Russia looks professional and would look really nice on someone’s wall,” said Reilly.
To learn more, visit the Bethlehem Central Middle School website.
