b'A NEW PILOT EDUCATION PROGRAM ,A Place Called Home, is being funded by The Ireland Funds inpartnershipwithAtlanticCorridor,alocaldevelopment company serving Irelands Midlands area. A Place Called HomeallowsstudentsinGeorgiaandAthlonetakeavirtual walk through each others history, culture and home in a collaborativeonlinelearningenvironment.Theprocessis celebrating the Irish cultural legacy and the contemporary artis-tic connections that exist between the United States and Ireland. Highdefinitionvideoconferencingisusedinthe classrooms to connect the schools, along with artists in theAthlone location. The content is directly aligned to existing primary school curriculum standards for music, language arts,history, and social studies.Its about bringing primary school children an awarenessof other countries and other cultures, says Jackie Gorman, CEOof Atlantic Corridor. The links between Ireland and Georgia aredeep on account of the number of Irish people that went to thesouthern states in the US. To now explore music and art and culture through technology is exciting because they have the opportunity to directly interact with people from schools in thatactual location that they are learning about.And so while the Athlone school children learn onsite fromguest musicians and poets about prose, art and music, childrenin Georgia are discovering the tin whistle and Irish poetry alongsidethemthroughthevideofeeds.Andthroughthe interaction, children in Athlone are discovering a world beyondtheir immediate rural area. Its been a magical experience really, explains JamesDonohue, one of the musicians involved with the program.James not only teaches musical components of the program buthas been a key driver behind the company Virtual Classroom thatfacilitates the technology. Straightaway when the children inAthlone got to see the artwork from the elementary students inGeorgia, they started spouting out questions such as, You alsohave green fields there?What is it like to attend a school withover 1,000 kids? and the American school children wanted toknow things like, What is Gaelic?What are Irish sports? Towatch the engagement is really fascinating. James knows that while the digital connection betweenschools seems like fun to the children now, A Place Called Homehas the potential to impact them far into the future. In 20 years time, there is no doubt, if you were to ask any of the children here about the project,while they might forget other things that happenedin elementary school, I can assure you that this issomething that will stick with them for life.This project demonstrates the strengthening links betweenIreland and the United States and provides a basis from whichfurtherbusinessandeducationlinkscanbedeveloped, concludes Jackie. It is also a distinct example of Ireland usingMUSICIANinnovation to deliver cultural programming in a fresh andJAMES DONOHUEunique way. And without the help of The Ireland Funds and otherstakeholders, it just wouldnt have happened.connect2014 | 35'