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Facing Difference Challenge

2017 - 2018

The Facing Difference Challenge was held during the 2017-18 school year to help educators worldwide empower young people to reflect and take action toward building understanding, empathy, and peace.

Overview

Your portraits raised $600,000 for peace-building programs.

The Facing Difference Challenge rallied more than 80,000 students from 37 countries to reflect and take action toward building understanding, empathy, and peace.

Why the Facing Difference Challenge?

Motivation

  • Engaging across lines of difference

    When we avoid or ignore our differences, understanding can be replaced by division. This is happening in ways big and small, from bullying in our schools to clashes in our communities, to civil wars waging around the globe.

  • Portraits for Peace

    Building peace can start with changing the attitudes of individuals. That’s why we invited students to draw and create self-portraits to celebrate their identity. $600,000 was generated to support young people from Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the South Caucasus to attend peacebuilding camps and take part in peace projects led by CARE and Search for Common Ground.

  • Celebrating diversity and peace

    By participating in peacebuilding camps and projects, young people now see the possibility of living together, working together, and contributing to a peaceful and prosperous future.

    Thousands of portraits were put on display through the Facing Difference Exhibit at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa.

How to Participate

The Process

Learn

Explore resources like lesson plans, art guides, and videos that help students explore who they are – their traits, experiences, and stories –  and reflect on the shared humanity between individuals, cultures, and communities.

Create

Encourage students to express their vision for a more united world through their choice of literary, media, performing and visual arts, or STEM.

Share

Submit students’ creative works to Students Rebuild. Each submission or student engaged raises $5 to support organizations worldwide that foster connection and champion collaborative change, up to $1 million.

Get Started

  • New to Students Rebuild?

    Check out our Quick Start Guide, which walks you through how to participate step by step and lists all the resources available to you.

    Quick Start Guide

  • What's in it for you?

    Aside from raising money through your creative works, every team or participant who submits artwork receives a downloadable Certificate of Participation. You can also request a detailed letter for service learning hours by emailing [email protected].

  • Mark your calendar!

    All creative work must be submitted by May 31, 2018 11:59pm PDT. Ready to make a difference through creativity? Sign up or sign in today!

Facing Difference Challenge Progress

$600,000

raised of $600,000 goal

We’ve reached our donation goal!

0

creative expressions

Every creative work generated raises awareness of the importance of empowering youth and building bridges! Submit now!

68,310

youth engaged

Creative Expressions

Choose a Medium

Creativity has the power to change the world, and it’s something that all of us can do. Explore the 5 mediums you can use for your Students Rebuild project.

  • Literary Arts

    Short stories, essays, and poetry.

    Performing Arts

    Dance, theater, and music.

    Media Arts

    PSAs, films, and videos.

  • Visual Arts

    Graphic design, drawings, paintings, photography, and memes.

    STEM

    Robotics, digital design, and games.

Partners

The programs your art helps fund

For each Students Rebuild annual Project, we partner with high-impact organizations working on the ground to help strengthen communities worldwide—many of them household names. The funds we donate transform student work into immediate, on-the-ground progress for carefully vetted programs that are evaluated according to the outcomes they produce. In addition to extending our reach and helping our funding make more of a difference, our partners also inform the resources we provide to teachers and students.

Engagement Partner
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