{"id":124,"date":"2016-06-02T19:33:49","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T19:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/?p=124"},"modified":"2017-08-30T00:14:28","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T00:14:28","slug":"pennies-for-peace-2015-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/02\/pennies-for-peace-2015-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennies for Peace 2015-2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Camilla Nichols-Uhler, Hannah Ferris, and Alex Chiu<\/p>\n

Since September, MCA students have been raising funds for Pennies for Peace<\/em>, a \u201cservice learning program that brings cultural and philanthropic education to students and educators all over the world\u201d. \u00a0Each campus recently totaled its pennies, with the help of our math-savvy students, and now plans to send the contributions on to assist children at schools throughout Asia.\u00a0 Read on to learn how many pennies our MCA students counted, resulting in a significant contribution to this very worthy cause!
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Program Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pennies for Peace<\/em> is part of the educational component of the Central Asia Institute (CAI). \u00a0CAI is an international development organization that works with communities to improve access to education in Asia. \u00a0The CAI believes that education can alleviate poverty and reduce conflict.<\/p>\n

Pennies for Peace<\/em> is a fundraising program designed specifically for children, and its philosophy of \u201cstudents helping students\u201d is relatable even to preschoolers. \u00a0MCA students, whose capacities for compassion find their foundation in the Montessori Philosophy, have taken ownership of this yearlong project. \u00a0The children collected pennies from home and then brainstormed additional ways to engage the community to help them with their fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n

Through their classroom Cultural studies, the children have learned a great deal about the state of education in certain areas of Asia. \u00a0And perhaps of more significance, they have also come to understand the importance of sharing some of what they have with others who are less fortunate. \u00a0When the MCA students discovered that just a few pennies could buy school supplies like notebooks and pencils for children in these far-away communities, they realized that many pennies could do even more.\u00a0 They wondered if they could work toward collecting enough pennies to build an entire school.<\/p>\n

Connecting Curriculum with a Cause<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pennies for Peace<\/em> program ties in nicely with the Montessori Culture and Science curriculum. Over the course of the year, MCA students have learned a lot about life in the more educationally deprived areas of Asia. \u00a0For example:<\/p>\n