After research and planning, the first day of our penny drive is finally here. Our class decided to ask everyone at our school to raise money for schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Each of us had to think of jobs to do at home and for our neighbors to raise money. We also asked some local businesses to put out containers for us. The first day of the event, we filled a huge pickle jar with pennies. It is the job of the fifth grade classes to collect the money and count it each day. We earned more than $250 already! We are working with a local bank who will count the pennies in a big machine and then give us a check that we can send to Pennies for Peace. We are learning so much about Pakistan and Afghanistan. We watched videos, looked at maps, and read books. Even the kindergarteners are excited because we learned that it only costs a few pennies to buy things like pencils and books. Our plan is to support a school for a whole year with the money we raise. I can’t wait to see what we can do in two months.