Many years ago, we decided that every April we would create an art project in each of our schools to close the gap on a specific challenge. The challenge that I’m speaking of is how we engage people with Autism and the goal was to create awareness and more understanding / appreciation for the unique challenges that they face.

The Kindness Project has become an incredible benchmark for the work that One River School has done in the space and I’m so proud of all our students and educators for taking a need in the marketplace and translating it to an interactive experience that has built a strong emotional connection. What’s made it even more cool is that we’ve been able to exhibit these works in public places across the country, giving our students a greater return on their investment of time.

This is one that hits home for me as well. As a father of a severely disabled/autistic 30-year man, we have lived the challenge of trying to raise Alex amongst a society that is so different from him and often doesn’t have a chance to engage with people like him. And, it is so special to me that we can use art education in such a useful manner.