Cambridge Lakes students collect more than $1,700 for coin drive
Pennies and nickels add up.
Just ask the third- and fourth-graders at Cambridge Lakes Charter School, who raised $1,700.30 in mostly spare coins.
“I never imagined we would raise this amount,” said Jaime Pearce, Purple School principal. “We easily beat last year’s total despite fewer classes participating.”
Due to a restructuring at the Pingree Grove school that moved the fifth grade to another building, seven classes took part in the fundraiser compared to nine classes a year ago. Despite fewer participants, the enthusiastic charter school students bested last year by $255.
The donations will be divided: 30 percent will go to the charter school’s Improvement Fund, 30 percent goes toward a fund for future activities for the fourth-graders, and 40 percent will go to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
“Let’s be thankful for the families who can enjoy a warm meal because of this donation,” Pearce said.
The charter school’s Purple School began its annual coin drive on Nov. 12. This year’s drive featured a point competition between homerooms instead of dollar amounts with these basic rules: donate paper money and pennies to your homeroom. Send silver coins to other homerooms.
Every penny found in the homeroom bucket counted as one-point toward the homeroom total. Every silver coin found in the homeroom bucket took one-point away from that total. Dollar bills counted as 100 points.
Christina Grischow’s fourth-grade homeroom won the competition for the second year in a row. They earned a pizza and ice cream party.
“We strategized every afternoon about what class to go after,” she said. “But the real point was for students to learn about their community and about giving to others who do not have what they do.”
If the donations were any indication, lesson learned.
As a charter school, all students in District 300 may attend without paying tuition. For admissions information or to arrange a visit, contact Sylvia Polletta, Admissions Director, at SylviaPolletta@CambridgeLakesCharterSchool.org or call (847) 464-5300.