Washington — In their own small but meaningful ways, students at one Maryland elementary school are working to improve the lives of children worldwide and promote human rights.

Nearly 130 students enrolled at the Forest Knolls Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland, participate in a program to raise awareness of and money for impoverished and exploited children. They are members of the O Ambassadors Club, a school-based program that is a joint endeavor of Oprah’s Angel Network and Free The Children.

Television host Oprah Winfrey founded her Angel Network in 1997 to encourage viewers to join her in charitable efforts around the world.

Free The Children is a nonprofit organization designed to rescue children subjected to exploitive labor practices because their parents do not have the means to send them to school. It was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger, who was only 12 when he was deeply moved by a newspaper story about Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani youth sold into bondage at age 5 to work in a rug factory. The teenage Masih was shot and killed for speaking out against this form of human slavery.

Kielburger enlisted his young classmates to begin working to help exploited children, and Free The Children has grown into the world’s largest network of children helping children. More than 1 million children in 45 countries participate.

Free The Children has built more than 500 schools for disadvantaged children, and the Free The Children-Oprah’s Angel Network partnership, which was launched in 2007, has built more than 55 schools in 12 countries.

REACHING OUT TO THE WORLD FROM ROCKVILLE

Almost one-fifth of the 565 students at Forest Knolls participate in some way in the O Ambassadors Club, making it one of the largest clubs in the Washington metropolitan area. Although only in its second year, the club is a success, partly due to the energy and enthusiasm of its coordinator, Susan Michal. Michal, a 20-year veteran teacher, has managed to weave science, journalism, reading and art into the activities of the club.

Most club members also participate in the school’s Junior Press Corps, and the children use their skills in photography, graphics, fact-finding and writing to raise awareness about the plight of impoverished children.

Forest Knolls students prepared more than 100 illustrated posters with facts about hunger, health, education and sustainable development needs. They plan to submit the posters to the headquarters of the O Ambassadors Club for possible publicity use. Some students wrote poems and storybooks to support the effort.

Addie, 10, told America.gov that her work with the club “makes me feel more fortunate … makes me appreciate what I have.”

Most students encounter the plight of the less fortunate through reading and their studies at school, but some told America.gov that they’ve seen poverty firsthand during travels with their parents to countries including Thailand, India, Nigeria and Ghana.

“Writing about poor children can show people they can find ways to find health care and get an education,” 9-year-old Amicolé, who has been to Africa, told America.gov.

Euvgenia, 10, was born in Siberia and adopted by an American couple. She is struggling to learn to walk again after several surgeries. She told America.gov that learning about exploited children makes her sad but grateful for her own blessings. “I want to help people when I grow up,” she said. “I want to be a nurse.”

During the 2007–2008 school year, the students designed, produced and sold their own Valentine’s Day cards to raise funds for school construction in impoverished areas of Asia.

That effort raised only $150 but was successful enough for the children to expand their line of greeting cards for another round of fundraising sales. The children also are learning how to build a coalition through efforts to partner with the school’s Student Government Association to find ways for even more effective fundraising efforts.

Third-grade student Erin told America.gov that she believes her work will help stop poverty among children the world over, but added: “I know it won’t happen right away.”

The important thing, of course, is that she and her fellow students are taking the first steps.