Engage the whole student.
Help change the whole world.
What is Students Rebuild?
How Students Rebuild Works
Explore a global issue
Each school year we issue a Challenge, a critical problem faced by young people in the world, and invite students to respond. Register, then dig in using our free resources.
In 2011 we learned about the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.
Make art and mail it in
Use our easy-to-follow instructions to create specific artwork related to this year’s Challenge. When it’s finished, join hundreds of thousands of other participants in sending your art our way.
In response, students around the world created over 2 million cranes!
Activate donations that support other young people
For every piece of art we receive, the Bezos Family Foundation donates to programs helping the people your students have learned about. Collective creativity adds up to real impact and helps raise awareness about important issues.
These cranes provided disaster relief after the Japanese tsunami and earthquake.
The 2019 Challenge
Students worldwide support the ocean and coastal communities.
More than 100,000 students from 1,000 teams in 40 countries dove into the Ocean Challenge, making it one of the largest campaigns in our 10-year history.
When the Challenge ended on June 8, 2019—World Oceans Day—teams had surpassed our Challenge goal of making 250,000 sea creatures! Each artwork was matched with a $2 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation—raising $500,000 in total.
Funds donated through the Challenge have helped 9 nonprofit organizations with coral restoration and conservation training for coastal youth. A culminating exhibit featuring student-made artwork opens at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium on July 23, 2019.
"When you make something with your hands, it changes the way you feel, which changes the way you think, which changes the way you act."
Increasing global understanding through 6.1 million pieces of artwork and counting.
Insights from participants
Sarah
High school student, Long Island, NY
“Through Students Rebuild and different classes at our school, I've been able to expand my mind and know more about the world in general. Also, it's sparked interest in what I want to pursue in the rest of my life.”
Challenges: 2
Pieces of Art: 3
Dollars: 6
Ms. Smith
Kindergarten Teacher, Roanoke Virginia
“I love how Students Rebuild allows my students to connect not only students within their own community but to students in other countries across the globe. They loved that they could be a part of that."
Challenges: 4
Pieces of Art: 200
Dollars: 500
Principal James
Middle School Principal, Athens, OH
“I believe projects like this bridge the gap and make our global community that much smaller. You're motivated to think about other people and see what you can do to improve a situation not just at home but somewhere else."
Challenges: 2
Pieces of Art: 2,957
Dollars: 6,248
Gallery
The latest from Students Rebuild
St. Augustine School of Montserrat recently participated in the Ocean Challenge with support of our grantee partner Fish n’ Fins. Students turned art into action to promote the urgent need for ocean conservation from the front lines of climate change.
This month our friends at Global Nomads Group are producing a new video and teaching materials telling the story of the Shidhulai organization in Bangladesh, one of the 10 organizations benefiting from the Ocean Challenge.
Students Rebuild is excited to highlight youth advocates making a difference for our ocean and world. Meet Yanni Pappas, who is a member of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots U.S. National Youth Leadership Council.
Inspired by teams around the world, our team is joining students to help clean up our local water ways! Here we are with the bags of trash that we retrieved from the Madison Park Arboretum in Seattle, WA.
Our ocean is teeming with life and we all rely on it for survival. Through the Ocean Challenge we are excited to explore and learn more through the work of The Nature Conservancy.
Inside the Facing Difference exhibit in the Figge Art Museum of Davenport, IA.
This year we are excited to be partnering with Ocean Collectiv to help identify and support amazing organizations impacting vulnerable coastal communities.
Portraits on display at the Figge Art Museum
Young people from the Bronx Science Key Club helped create ocean creatures ahead of our Challenge launch!
Afiya Williams and Arno Michaelis speaking at the opening event for the Facing Difference exhibit in the Figge Art Museum of Davenport, IA.
"Without the reefs, the beaches disappear. We're learning how to take care of our island. And the fish, too. Without a reef, no fish." - Joseph, 10, Alpha Junior School.
Youth playing in the Facing Difference exhibit at Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA.
This photo was taken in Grenada during Reef Week. Through the Ocean Challenge, participants will be supporting similar work and projects in the Dominican Republic and The Bahamas.
Students Rebuild team member Valerie with Bezos Scholar Pablo Haake!
We're so excited to see Ocean Challenge art already coming in! Thank you Uruguayan American School!
Drawing self-portraits at the Figge Art Museum
Thank you Oklahoma Centennial High School for creating these sea creatures for the Ocean Challenge!
Arno Michaelis, Afiya Williams of Global Nomads Group, Students Rebuild team member Leonetta, and students from Davenport Central HS at the Figge Art Museum exhibit launch.
We're so excited to see Ocean Challenge art already coming in! Thank you Uruguayan American School!
Portraits on display at the Figge Art Museum.
Pictures with portraits! At the Facing Difference exhibit in the Figge Art Museum of Davenport, IA.
Drawing self-portraits at the Facing Difference exhibit in the Figge Art Museum of Davenport, IA.