Rhinelander 3rd graders using ‘penny war’ to send water filters to Africa
Students are collecting coins to help underprivileged communities
RHINELANDER, Wis. (WSAW) - Students in the Rhinelander School District are starting a penny war to help underprivileged communities in Africa have easier access to freshwater.
The 3rd graders are collecting coins to raise money for the water filters they’re sending to Africa.
“Every single penny we raise for this goes directly towards water filters,” said Kathryn Kraemer, a 3rd-grade teacher at Central Elementary School.
The students are learning about the importance of freshwater resources in their English class.
“The kids are then starting to find that it’s not as accessible as it is for us here,” said Kraemer.
The 3rd graders got the inspiration to help less fortunate communities in Africa after reading the book “The Water Princess.”
“It’s teaching them about how, you know, we have freshwater. We can just turn on a faucet and freshwater comes out. Places in Africa, they don’t have that. They have to walk many miles to go get water and it’s not necessarily the cleanest,” said Kraemer.
The book inspired the kids so much they wanted to raise money to help. The students started a penny competition to see which class can raise the most money.
“What I think is the most fun about this project is counting money and raising money for Africa so we can help to raise money and get filters for Africa,” said Calliope, a 3rd-grade student.
All of the classrooms in the school district have buckets to drop in pennies and dollars.
“Our goal was $400. We’re already at $1,151.85 as our central school,” said Kraemer.
The $75 filters the school will be donating will provide enough water to support larger communities in Africa.
“One filter has about 250 days for a town the size of Rhinelander and I think that’s really cool,” said Rachel, a 3rd-grade student.
The last day to contribute to the penny wars is May 20.
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