Lura A. White Elementary School Pennies for Peace Campaign: Slowed But Not Deterred by Five Snow Days, Our Projects Continue

Friday, February 11, 2011

Slowed But Not Deterred by Five Snow Days, Our Projects Continue

It seems that nearly every day we have scheduled to work on Pennies for Peace has been a snow day these past five weeks. But the students continue to be actively engaged in the project.

Art Teacher Sarah Russell is currently working with the class on creating collages to illustrate the book "Listen to the Wind." Today we hope to complete or nearly complete them, at which time we will contact Betsy Sawyer of the Big Book (Pages for Peace) project so that they can be scanned for the world's largest published book.

The collages are coming along beautifully! The students are using paper, fabric, tissue paper, magazine clippings, poster board, and other items to create scenes of the building of the first school Greg Mortenson helped to build, the rope and bucket that was used to transport people and goods across the Braldu River before the bridge was built, the children of Korphe curiously looking at the stranger when he first stumbled into their village, and many other scenes.

Next we will look at the geography of where we live and compare it to that of Korphe.

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A Note for Parents

Some of you may have read about or seen the piece on "60 Minutes" in which a charity watchdog group and others express doubts about many of author and Central Asia Institute Founder Greg Mortenson's claims about his experiences and charity work.

Whether or not Mortenson is a totally honest and forthright person, what I can say from my perspective as the coordinator of this program in our school, is that the curriculum and work of our students has been totally worthwhile and a great learning experience for all.

Although some have expressed doubt as to the validity of all of Mortenson's claims, he has done a lot of good and difficult work, and we can hold onto that and all of the accomplishments of our students, who have been learning a lot about themselves and other cultures.

On April 26, I received a lovely letter from Mortenson in which he explains his and the CAI's perspective. He also wrote that he has been experiencing health problems for nearly two years, and that he will soon be undergoing surgery for a hole in his heart. Therefore, he has had to cancel a number of speaking engagements, including the one in Worcester that was schedule for May 3.

Click here to read about and see the "60 Minutes" video.

Here is the American Institute of Philanthropy's Report on the Central Asia Institute: Accountability Update

Click here for Mortenson's response.

About Pennies for Peace

The Pennies for Peace program is designed to help students broaden their cultural horizons and learn about their capacities as philanthropists. It educates students about the world beyond their experience and shows them that they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Our goal at LAW is to raise $600 in pennies--enough to pay a teacher's annual salary in Pakistan--by May 13. As student Caleb Callaluca put it in our thank-you letter to our corporate sponsor: "We are doing this because we believe that education is the key to global peace."