It was wonderful to see Ms. Allen’s class at St Theresa Catholic School, of Phoenix, AZ get excited about the Pennies for Pearl Harbor Program.    Ms. Allen wrote to us and told us of her class’s positive experience.  She said, “Our students participate in a reading practice program called Accelerated Reader.  Students select and read books according to their reading levels, complete a comprehension test, and earn points.  I set a goal each quarter for them to try to achieve.  I decided to have the kids spend the month of April reading and challenging themselves to see how many points they could earn in a month.  Prior to the challenge, each student asked family and friends to pledge a monetary amount for each point they could earn.  During April, the kids read and read and read!  We took a field trip to the Arizona State Capitol Museum (we were studying government) and our museum has a wonderful memorial exhibit for the USS Arizona.  This really got the kids excited and motivated.  Two of the students, on their own, created posters for our classrooms about the USS Arizona Memorial to help keep their classmates motivated.  Although, not all the students participated, the ones who did were very successful.  We kept a tally on the board as the money was turned in and when we reached $1000.00, the kids were thrilled.  It was very touching to witness their pride!!!”

We credit Ms. Allen for her creativity in combining this important community service program with the class’s reading program.  A big mahalo nui loa to this great group of students who worked so hard to Remember, Understand, and Honor the events of December 7, 1941!