Team4Tech Accelerates Arts Program Growth with Adobe Fellows
Since 2004, the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) serves children and their families in extreme poverty. This community survives by scavenging at the (now closed) Steung Meanchey garbage dump. CCF provides education, healthcare, and vocational training for over 2,000 children and their families. Last fall, Adobe Team4Tech Fellows (employee volunteers) went to Cambodia to support CCF’s education programs to advance the digital arts skills of teachers and students. Adobe donated 50 Adobe CC licenses to CCF and the Fellows provided workshops to train teachers and students in these tools.
Capacity Built for School Operations through Software Integration
Six months later, the CCF staff have built upon this foundation to create significant opportunities for their students. They have:
- Launched four new digital arts classes (Graphic Arts, Media Production, Animation, and Web Design). These courses developed from the workshops provided by the Adobe Team4Tech Fellows. Over 70 students have already benefited from these introductory classes and there is widespread demand for even more offerings.
- Integrated Adobe Photoshop into their public high school curriculum (grades 7-12).
- Expanded the use of digital arts into STEM classes using tablets purchased with the Team4Tech grant.
- Improved the efficiency of school operations by using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. Staff could now automate student ID creation and reduce the time (from one month to one day) to create public school reports submitted to the Cambodian Ministry of Youth and Sports. The result is that teachers and staff have more time to focus on student learning.
As a result of Adobe’s sponsorship of the Team4Tech project supporting the Cambodian Children’s Fund and the work of the Adobe Team4Tech Fellows, students are now learning digital media skills that unlock educational and economic opportunities.
The Power of Digital Skills Training: Sokry’s Story
One incredible example of this impact is Sokry, who had recently graduated from CCF’s high school when the Adobe Team4Tech project was implemented. Sokry was a good student and interested in graphic design, but without the means for university education, she would be unable to pursue a career in graphic design. However, Sokry showed an aptitude for learning the Adobe software. CCF offered her an internship so that she could keep developing her skills. She also began informally teaching others how to use the tools in Adobe CC, and so CCF gave Sokry the opportunity to teach one of the new Digital Arts courses. At first, it was difficult teaching younger students while simultaneously expanding her own knowledge. But within a month, she was able to use the resources provided by the Adobe Team4Tech Fellows and other online tutorials to gain proficiency and confidence. Sokry is now working three part-time graphic design jobs and studying English at ACE (Australian Centre for Education). In just six short months, Sokry’s outlook for the future has significantly improved because she had the opportunity to learn how to use Adobe Creative Cloud.
Get Involved with Team4Tech and Our Partners
Are you employed in the tech industry and looking for corporate volunteer opportunities in the Bay Area? Are you a corporation interested in increasing your corporate social impact programs? Team4Tech is continually launching new projects impacting global education and building relationships with new corporate partners who are able to lend technical expertise to the global nonprofit sector.
Interested in learning more about Team4Tech’s partnership with the Cambodian Children’s Fund and more projects with Adobe volunteers?
You can learn about past tech industry volunteer experiences and how they developed leadership skills and created social impact on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to sign up for the Team4Tech mailing list to stay informed about new corporate social impact projects and how you can support the global edtech mission of Team4Tech.
