Students Get Sense of How Far Their Cents Will Go
To Help Others
A lack of stray pennies in the halls of the Franklin Township School has nothing to do with efficient janitors.
The entire school population has been picking up the pennies as it works to collect money for Pennies for Peace.
The nonprofit raises pennies — and only pennies — to fund education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group operates on the idea that pennies are virtually worthless in the United States but can make a difference in other countries.
For example, a penny can buy a pencil in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. When combined, 1,200 pennies, or $12, sends a child to school for a year in either country.
The goal is simple enough for the elementary-age children to understand and the contribution amount doesn’t exclude anyone, school officials said.
“Anyone can donate pennies — it’s a way for kids to contribute,” school psychologist Pauline Albrecht said.
The school got the idea to participate in the program after Albrecht and several other staff members over the summer read founder Greg Mortenson’s book “Three Cups of Tea.” The Montana resident has helped build 64 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was inspired to help the countries when a small Pakistani village nursed him back to health after a failed 1993 attempt at hiking K2, the second highest mountain in the world.
The Franklin staff members thought Mortenson’s mission would fit well into the school’s character education curriculum.
“This is the perfect way to get kids to know where is Pakistan, where is Afghanistan — you hear it in the news all the time,” Albrecht said. “If you can get kids over there a good education and a well-rounded education, it’s harder for extremists to take over.”
For the Franklin students, the program’s goals are simpler.
“We’re trying to get pennies so they can have schools, so they don’t have to go to schools in tents,” said Ally Bryant, 9.
“We can’t buy a pencil with a penny — they can,” said Nicole Dorman, 9.
The students have been searching between couch cushions and under their beds for pennies, they said. Any coin found on the ground at school goes toward the fund — even nickels, dimes and quarters, teacher Jennifer Fischer said.
“They say, ‘Let’s take this to the bank and change it into pennies,'” the fourth-grade teacher said.
Hana Cicerelle raided her longtime piggy bank to contribute all the pennies she owned. She said she brought in three water bottles worth and didn’t mind one bit.
“You can’t really buy anything with them here,” the 9-year-old said.
Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044
– Lynn Olanoff