Change for the World
This spring at Herberg Middle School, pennies have provoked all sorts of thoughts.
“Collecting change can buy some pride and maybe some hope,” said Morgan Matthews, an eighth-grade student.
“One penny is a pencil for a kid in some places. Anyone can find a penny on the street. Anybody can help,” said eighth-grader Makayla Powers.
The two girls are part of a group of nearly 20 eighth-grade students led by English teacher Michael Henault, whose efforts rallied Herberg and local businesses to raise more than $2,500 in change for an international campaign called “Pennies for Peace.”
The youth program is an initiative of the Central Asia Institute founded by Greg Mortenson. He co-authored the New York Times No. 1 best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time,” with David Oliver Relin.
In 1993, while climbing K2, one of the world’s most difficult peaks, Mortenson became lost and ill, and eventually found aid in the tiny Pakistani village of Korphe. He vowed to repay his generous hosts by building a school; his efforts have grown into the Central Asia Institute, which has since provided education for 25,000 children living in some of the most remote and war-torn regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Back in April, Henault took the Grade 8 group to Westfield State College to hear Mortenson speak, and also got to personally meet the author.
“At first we were nervous meeting him, but then you see he’s just a guy. He was very nice. It just shows that anyone can help out,” said student Allie Supranowicz.
The middle school students began collecting change in April, putting canisters in classrooms, and at about 25 local businesses. Every day, the students would collect the change, count it out by hand, and give it to their teacher to put in a large bin.
Last week, during a meeting to wrap up their campaign for this school year, Henault opened a cabinet where the pennies were being banked.
“There are a quarter-million pennies in that bucket — I can’t move it,” he said. The students smiled.
“The nice thing to is that most of the money was given by students at Herberg,” said Henault.
The Pennies for Peace group said they were surprised by the outpouring of coins from their fellow classmates. “People were bringing it in, in bags,” said Mollie Daly.
Asked why they thought their fellow students wanted to help so much, a few kids offered some thoughts.
“Kids in American will say, ‘Ugh, we have to go to school.’ Over there, kids think of it as a privilege. They appreciate [the opportunity] more than we do,” said Powers.
“It kind of makes you feel guilty,” said Nicole Alfonsi.
Carly Garofano agreed and said, “When they realize things like this, I think kids can get a whole bunch of other kids together to make change.”
(c) The Berkshire Eagle 2010
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/learning/ci_15155046
