25 Quetzales

My last unit in Social Studies this semester covered Africa South of the Sahara desert. I started the unit with a powerpoint on a lot of the current struggles the African continent faces: poverty, hunger, disease, war, etc. I decided to do this because these are struggles that I wish I had learned about earlier in my life. My sixth graders, some more than others, were really impacted by the problems and wanted to help.

Enter our final project.

I gave each student 25 quetzales, which totals to $60 for the class. The students were instructed to take the money and find creative ways to turn it into more, and the final collection would go to by animals for families in African villages (Heifer International). Some students washed cars, others cleaned houses, my Koreans sold origami, and more. Two boys, Delrick and Jason, opened a bakery--they made DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls and sold them at school. Needless to say, my sixth graders turned $60 dollars into $250 in the matter of 10 days!

I'm so proud of them and their desire to help others, and their realization that we not only need to help the people around us, but also people all over the world. After all, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ!