Pennies for Peace moves Eyestone community

December 09, 2009

By Brenda Rader Mross

The Wellington

Ben Franklin’s adage, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” has for generations underscored the value of the 1-cent piece with the simple recognition that, little by little, not spending money has the same result as earning it.

Five weeks ago, a single penny may have seemed unworthy to some students at Eyestone Elementary School in Wellington (Colorado). But watching their copper collection grow day by day, classroom by classroom, has since demonstrated how a community can make a difference, person by person.

In an all-school assembly Dec. 4, representatives poured the contents of their classrooms’ Pennies for Peace donation jugs into a large plastic container. Children were amazed at the spectacle — and noise — a few pennies multiplied into $1,000.56 can create.

A last-minute $1,000 anonymous donation nearly doubled that amount. The Bohemian Foundation will match the amount collected, bringing Eyestone’s campaign total to $4,001.12.

The goal was to collect $3,000 to help establish schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last year, American schoolchildren’s efforts raised more than $900,000 for humanitarian Greg Mortenson’s Pennies for Peace global organization.

Eyestone’s local campaign was organized by instructional literacy and math coach Molly Curell in honor of first-grade teacher Beth Martin.

After hearing the author of “Three Cups of Tea” speak at Colorado State University, Martin planned to have her class collect coins. When Martin suffered a serious heart attack Sept. 6, Curell recruited their colleagues to take on the project and make it schoolwide.

“This is amazing,” Martin told the assembly, as she asked them to applaud a list of contributors. “What I can say is, ‘Wow!’ I always knew Eyestone was a caring school, but this is incredible.”

Martin has been back teaching full-time since school resumed after Thanksgiving break. The 52-year-old looked healthy and strong as she asked everyone to put their hands over their hearts.

“And I can talk about hearts now,” she said. “This comes from your heart.”

Martin told the kids that while their teachers gave them an important job putting up posters and collecting pennies, now they have an even more important job: bringing peace to the world. She said it is their responsibility because they are part of this world, and it can be as simple as doing their best in school or smiling at someone.

“Now that you understand about giving and making a difference, and that even small amounts can make a difference, don’t stop,” Martin requested. “Don’t stop making a difference.”

Martin warned students she was going to trick them when she asked them to clap for themselves, “for a job…” She paused, waiting for someone to fill in the blank. Several shouted, “Well done!” “No,” she said, “for a job just begun.”

The Eyestone Cougar Choir sang a cappella a version of the “Peace Round,” repeating the refrain, “What a goodly thing if the children of the world could dwell together in peace.” Student council members kicked things off, leading a 500-children-strong chorus in a chant, “Pennies, pennies, pennies for peace.”

“The student council made that chant up,” Curell said. “I still can’t believe how devoted they’ve been, willingly giving up so much of their time to make this happen.”

Before the count came in, council members took a stab at guessing how many pennies they gathered.

“Ten thousand,” estimated Noah Ford, a fourth-grader who said it was very fun helping other kids.

“Eight hundred thousand,” was fellow fourth-grader Zach Leal’s confident calculation.

Of course the real bottom line was what the students learned, which according to fifth-grader Peter Knott was about being generous.

“It was fun,” said Will Daknis, a fifth-grader, “but we also learned that some kids in the world aren’t as lucky as us.”

Johnny Berg, a fourth-grader, said he discovered every little bit helps when helping other kids, adding, “And it felt great!”

Curell said the 56-quart tote cracked when lifted so she and Alicia Macica hauled the cache to the bank in 10 buckets. It took over an hour for the bank’s coin sorting machine to come up with the final tally.

Curell emphasized that the fund-raiser — from its Oct. 23 kickoff throughout — was entirely the students’ doing.

“I am so impressed with these kids, with this community,” she said. “It’s been amazing.”

Curell said they purposefully decided there would be no contests or incentives to make the campaign competitive. That way, she said, Pennies for Peace would embody the spirit of intrinsic reward and serve to inspire lifelong community participation.

Pennies for Peace demonstrates another famous Franklin quote: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”