Grovenor Elementary students make donation to Terra

By Mathew White

GROVENOR — It’s like art, math and philanthropy all rolled into one.

The Kindergarten class at Grovenor Elementary School saw the fruits of their labour come to fruition Friday as the class donated nearly $1,000 in cash and gifts to Terra – an organization dedicated to assisting pregnant and parenting teenagers.

“It’s exciting to see young children participating at such a young age and learning what it means to give back to the community and to help out,” said Karmen Masson, a representative from Terra.

Cheryl Barron, Kindergarten teacher at Grovenor School, actually came up with the idea for the project a couple of years ago.  She said she wanted to get the children involved in something that really taught them the value of money, and at the same time, do a little good in the world.

The project is called “Pails for Change” and the goal is for the children to decorate individual pails and fill them up with change they find at home.  When the kids bring back the full pails, they sort and count the change, having fun and learning at the same time.

“There’s a whole bunch of learning on a whole bunch of different levels,” said Barron.

“As far as the curriculum, it takes in so much.  That’s what’s really cool about it.”

All together the children were able to raise $460.28.  Barron’s husband was so impressed with the children’s efforts, that his company ‘Data Group of Companies’ agreed to match the funds raised.

And so on Friday morning the children took their money and did a little shopping at the Giant Tiger on 149 Street and Stony Plain Road, spending exactly half the money on gifts such as diapers, bottles, formula, etc., and giving the rest in cheque form.

After picking up the items and returning to the school, the children were able to see firsthand where their work would be going.

Cheyanne McGilvery, along with her baby girl, Seva Stiana, came to the Kindergarten class and thanked everyone for all the work they’ve done.  She said it’s great to see children doing something like this and knows it will help Terra a great deal.

“Terra has helped me a lot in life,” said McGilvery.  “I didn’t want to go to school, but they encouraged me to so they’ve helped me out a lot.”

This is the second time Barron has run this event – the first time the funds went to the Jasper Place Health and Wellness Centre – and she said she’s hoping she can keep it going in the future.