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School Partnership Program​

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Hugs From Friends provides U.S. schools with an opportunity to support Ukrainian students through art, education, and cultural exchange. Schools can participate at a level they want, allowing students to engage in creative projects, explore Ukrainian culture and history, and build student-to-student connections.

How Schools Can Get Involved

FRIEND SCHOOL- Artwork Exchange​​
As a “Friend” a lead teacher or school participates in our art exchange, where U.S. students create art with positive messages of support and are sent to children in Ukraine.

SUPPORT SCHOOL- Art Exchange + Deeper Student to Student Integration

In addition to the art exchange, HFF will assign your school with a partner school in Ukraine, allowing teachers and students to engage in letters and communication.

SPONSOR SCHOOL- Art Exchange + Deeper Student to Student Integration + Fundraising Event for Ukrainian School

U.S. School has completed a year as a partner with a Ukrainian school & commits to hosting one annual public event to raise awareness of the exchange program and funds for their partner school in Ukraine

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How to get started

Step 1:  Please complete our short School Partnership: School Sign-Up Form

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This will help us learn a little about your school, why you are interested in participating and how we can help create a unique experience for your students.

 

Step 2:  We will reach out to you so we can put together a plan that works for your school and students.  

 
If you have any questions, contact us at
info@hugsfromfriends.org or call 479-222-0877.

School Partnership Success Stories

Hugs From Friends Partnership
with the Arkansas Arts Academy

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AAA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MAKING CONNECTIONS IN UKRAINE

Aaron Jones
May 9, 2025

 

Today, a small group of Arkansas Arts Academy High School students arrived at the campus an hour before classes to take part in a virtual conversation with students in Dnipro, Ukraine. This student exchange was organized through a partnership with Hugs From Friends (HFF), a local non-profit organization whose mission is to show support for Ukrainian children and families affected by the war.

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AAA has been a partner school with Hugs From Friends since 2022, when the Director, Trevor Dane, contacted Aaron Jones (AAA Director of Arts Integration and Museum Partnerships) to see if AAA would participate in creating artwork to send to children in Ukraine. Since then, our schools have participated in numerous community events, hosted a fundraiser for Ukrainian schools affected by the war, as well as have established virtual conversations with two schools in Ukraine through HFF; one at the elementary campus (Mr. Papania’s 5th grade) and now one at the high school.

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Jones, who serves as liaison for community partnerships and is also a board member of HFF, shared, “I am so proud and impressed with our students. The Ukraine Support Club was initiated by one of our high school students, James Kamm. He approached me earlier this year after creating a card to send to a student in Ukraine and wanted to be more involved. He inquired if he and a group of friends could have a more personal correspondence with high school students in Ukraine. I contacted the Hugs From Friends team and Natalia Chapovska, who is a HFF board member and is also Ukrainian, responded immediately and used her family contacts to make this connection possible.”

 

Prior to the virtual meeting, students from both AAA and Ukraine shared music playlists with one another to learn about each other's interests. The students were surprised to discover that much of the music they like is similar. Having this common interest allowed the conversation to flow easily. Students began asking questions about hobbies, studies, pets, food, and college. A big takeaway for AAA students was the level of fluency in English that their fellow Ukrainian students had as well as the number of languages that they can speak. (Thank you, students in Dnipro, you have inspired our kids to study harder for their English finals next week!). A second virtual meeting has been scheduled for next Friday, before school, as there is an eight-hour time difference, where AAA students will perform favorite songs from the playlist.

 

Thank you, James, Tyler, Mataline, Naylii, Charles, Jan, and Mr. Keith Todd, for your desire and willingness to support. Together we can all make a difference! And thank you to Hugs From Friends, Ms. Liza (high school teacher in Ukraine) and her students/ our new friends in Dnipro, for allowing us to participate in this school partnership opportunity. We look forward to our next meeting!

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Music Playlist created by Arkansas Arts Academy students' Ukraine Support Club: 

Playlist created by School 123 Dnipro students to share with Arts Arkansas Academy:

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To mark the one year anniversary of the re-invasion of Ukraine, Hugs From Friends collaborated with Arkansas Arts Academy (AAA) to host a free community wide event aimed at raising awareness about the war in Ukraine and highlighting organizations providing humanitarian aid. The event featured a partnership with savED, a Chernihiv, Ukrainian organization dedicated to rebuilding schools destroyed in the war.​

Highlights from the event included: Bandura performance, AAA Dancers and choir, Hey Hey Rise Up song by savED and AAA students, Fayetteville International Folk Dancers​, and Yuliia Tymochko, Runner Up for The Voice Ukraine.

Artwork and Student to Student Exchange

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Cultural Exchange

Elementary students learned about Ukrainian culture, history, and created traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Culinary students explored Ukrainian cuisine, preparing traditional dishes to share at the anniversary event.

Other School Partnerships

Sending baseball equipment and artwork to
Ukraine Global School, Kyiv

School and Education Partners

​​​​​​U.S. Schools: 

​Arkansas:
Arkansas Arts Academy Elementary and Middle School, Rogers
Cooper Elementary School, Bella Vista
​Old High Middle School, Bentonville
R. E. Baker Elementary School, Bentonville
University of Arkansas, Graduate School & International Education, Fayetteville​
 
Rhode Island
​Henry Barnard School, Providence
Western Hills Middle School, Cranston
 
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin – Madison

Ukrainian Schools: 

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