OGDEN -- The poster-size check consisted of fourth-grade handwriting in colorful markers.
The check represented months of planning, solving problems, discussing lollipop sales strategies and staying after school.
It was made out to the Mali Rising Foundation in the amount of $314.20, with the purpose of purchasing books and other school supplies for kids in the country of Mali in Western Africa.
Yeah Samake, director of the Mali Rising Foundation and mayor of Ouelessebougou, where the school is being built, graciously accepted the unique check and sum Monday afternoon from Shawnee Robinson's fourth-grade class at Lincoln Elementary.
"This is very special. It's not just the money, but these children getting involved in helping children their age -- it's just unique," said Samake, who plans to frame the check. "I was very touched."
Students got the idea at the beginning of the school year from a group of local Mali humanitarians and opted to help by selling lollipops. Students ran the show, selling 600 suckers at 75 cents apiece.
While performing service, Robinson said, the students also learned the ups and downs of how to run a profitable business.
"They had to decide on the product, the sales price and how to turn a profit. They did a lot of math," she said.
"It was a service-learning project. Instead of doing it from a textbook, addition, subtraction, problem-solving, we just did a project. It was fun to watch them go through the process."
The students raised the money despite the theft of some lollipops and older kids picking on them, Robinson said, and adjusted by revising their sales process along the way.
When Samake arrived to accept the check Monday, the youngsters treated him like a rock star. The student body gathered in the gymnasium for a short assembly in which the check was presented and Samake showed the children a presentation about life in Mali.
Fourth-graders Brandon Merdsker and Shelby Thierry were co-managers of the project, which they agreed was a lot of hard work but well worth the effort.
"It was really cool to learn about Yeah, his personality and his country," Merdsker said. "It was very exciting to help other kids. We feel very proud that we did that."
The school fundraiser is a small part of a larger humanitarian effort by a group of locals to assist Mali.
The group has raised more than $11,000 for the Mali school project. If enough funds are raised, group members want to install a solar energy panel at the Mali school and donate a computer, a rare commodity in schools in that country.
The Mali school will be completed and dedicated in January.
Learn more about the Mali school project by visiting www.malischool.com or malirisingfoundation.org.
Comments