Anne Palmieri, an 8th grade English teacher at Tuckahoe Middle Schools, informs us that her class raised $650 for the Pennies for Peace charity. Here is her press release on her students’ accomplishment:
The students at Tuckahoe Middle School have joined hands with thousands of other school children around the world who share the vision and dedication to empower communities through education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. TMS 8th Grade students have been involved in the Pennies for Peace campaign to broaden their cultural horizons and become members of a global family dedicated to peace.
How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in Tuckahoe. But in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life. In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. The Pennies for Peace program goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace.
TMS 8th Grade students had an opportunity to study the cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan through the reading of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, They worked together to learn to work and share together in their Peace for Peace campaign, and come to understand their own capacity as philanthropists – one penny at a time.
The 8th Grade students collected money by putting buckets in all of the middle school classrooms. They also explained the program to the classes throughout the month of January
There were morning and afternoon announcements over the PA system to remind the students to join in the effort to raise pennies for this worthy cause. The pennies that TMS students collected can add up to make a real difference.
1 penny = a pencil; 2-3 pennies = an eraser; 15 pennies = one notebook; $20 = one child’s school supplies for one year; $50 = one treadle sewing machine and supplies; $100 = maternal healthcare supplies for one year; $300 = one advanced student’s annual scholarship; $600 = one teacher’s annual salary; $5,000 = support for existing school for one year; $50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years.
Children in over 400 mountain villages in remote northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the waiting list, hoping to learn in a new school. TMS 8th Grade students hope to help build a bridge of peace, one penny at a time, offering alternatives to the cycle of terrorism and war.
