How much noise can a box full of coins make?
A lot, if you shake it up.
Albany public school students at pre-K-5 Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy are often learning about making change. And, for the third year in a row, they spent the month of March focusing on a change they could count on. Third-grade teacher Susan Lofrumento initiated Pennies for Patients campaign to get her students’ hands on a service learning opportunity. (Photo: Susan Lofrumento, teacher John Murphy, principal, Christine Krenzer (white sweater), Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.)
She invited the whole school to join and, this year, they shook things up again. They raised $1,230 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society during three weeks of their own “March Madness.”
The first two years of the charity project, students and staff raised an impressive $1,000. This year’s increase was a cause for students’ rejoicing – especially coming from the pockets of many children who know poverty up front and personal in this inner-city school, where they rely on mobile dental services and school-based health services, provided in conjunction with local hospitals and health and charity programs.
“It is a great morale builder for the children and the staff, and gets everyone excited about doing good things for people — people we do not even know and, hopefully, making a difference in someone's life,” said Lofrumento, who has been teaching for 23 years. “We wanted to teach our students that, even though we are young, we can help others in our community.”
When Pennies for Patients kicks into gear, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society gives the 300 students who attend the school a box containing a photo of a patient who has overcome the disease. Pennies, fat nickels, thin dimes and big quarters are dropped into the boxes, along with dollar bills.
The third-graders have the important task of visiting each classroom to collect the cash. The stakes are high: Students in the class that raises the most money are treated to a party at the Olive Garden.
But, as Lofrumento recounts, “One student said, ‘It is not about who collects the most money, and wins the Olive Garden party, the real winners are the Leukemia Society because we are helping so many people.’”
Along with raising money, students raise their own levels of awareness. These young learners watch YouTube videos posted by the Leukemia Society, teaching them about blood cancers and related research and treatment. Through them, they “meet children just like them who are fighting to beat cancer,” Lofrumento said.
The students then use their creative skills to make posters, with words and pictures that ask other students to help fight leukemia by donating change.
As they hang the posters in hallways, they personify the mission of the school, which reads, in part: “All staff, families and communities will work together to foster a nurturing and enriching atmosphere that will produce life-long learners and involved, respectful and responsible citizens.”
The school reopened in 2004 in the first wave of restructuring Albany’s elementary and middle schools. It combined the previous School 21 with an addition to the building.
Lofrumento is an active member of the Albany Public School Teachers Association. She is also part of the Building Leadership Team and the treasurer of the PTA.