Students Realize the Value of Pocket Change

Jan. 10, 2012 ~ What can you buy with several pounds of pocket change? The exact answer to that question hasn't been determined, but in general terms the students at Fairview Elementary School know their Pennies for Shoes collection can buy a lot of shoes for children in need across Olathe.

"Students were so excited to be a part of donating," second-grade teacher Amanda Laytham said.

Pennies for Shoes is the district's effort to benefit the Children's Shoe Fund, a part of the Olathe Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund. This year, students across the district collected $11,526.97 for the fund, compared to more than $7,400 last year. This amounted to 12.5 percent of the entire $92,000 raised by the Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund, according to Ruth Nelson, member of the fund's board of directors.

"I heard students talk about getting coins out of their parent's car or asking their grandparents for pennies. I had a student bring a bag full of pennies from her piggy bank," Laytham said.

Although Fairview has participated in the district's Pennies for Shoes drive for several years, Laytham took it a step further as part of her final for a Servant Leadership master's class. She gave each classroom a gallon-sized plastic bag for their collection and promoted the effort during morning announcements and with signs in the halls. Parents received an automated call to let them know the money would be used to buy shoe vouchers at Payless Shoe Source for district students in need.

Instead of counting the change to find a winning classroom, Laytham arranged to have each plastic bag weighed. Two classrooms tied with 19 pounds of coins each. Their reward was an extra recess certificate and they'll share the Golden Shoe Award (an old shoe spray-painted gold).

"We nearly filled our jug to the top!" Laytham said. "It was a great experience!"

	Each day, some students gathered to drop a few coins or small bags of change into the gallon-size plastic bags in their classrooms.
	Fairview Elementary School students collected several pounds of coins for the Children’s Shoe Fund, part of the Olathe Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund. Submitted photos