Rochester Students Give Guatemalan Children 4,573 Reasons to be Thankful

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving break found 400-plus Musson Elementary School students chanting at the top of their lungs, "Pie! Pie! Pie!"

But they weren't talking about the pumpkin kind.

The stage curtain slowly raised, bringing the children to a fevered pitch and there in the spotlight stood a man, alone but unfazed.

Raising the roof

Today is the day we reflect on what we are thankful for, but many things in our life might not even make the list. It's not that we're not grateful; we just expect them to be there.

Like a roof on our children's school.

When Musson art teacher Amy King heard from a friend about an elementary school in Guatemala that was left with a huge hole in its roof after a storm, she saw an opportunity to take Musson's "Be Kind" school-wide theme to a global level.

She challenged the students to a Penny War. 

The War lasted two weeks. During the first week, students brought in pennies only for their classroom jars.

The second week the battles began in earnest. Students could bring in silver or paper money and put it in other classroom jars to deduct money from that classroom's total.

A running tally was kept near the cafeteria so students knew which classes to "bomb."

King hoped to raise $1,000 for the roof. 

Above and beyond

At the beginning of the Penny War, King got on the school P.A. system and in her best Darth Vadar voice told the students, "Never underestimate the power of the penny."

Boy, was she right!

At Tuesday's assembly, King announced the total amount raised by the students.

"I am so proud of you," King told the students. "You went amazingly above and beyond all the goals we set."

The total amount raised in the Musson Penny War was $4,573.74.

A slide show of the Guatemalan school with its broken roof was shown. "You guys have replaced that roof," King said.

Not only will the school in Guatemala get a new roof — which King announced they have already started work on — but the extra funds will give the school playground equipment and tire swings.

King, as well as third-grade teachers Karen Holdren and Kristie Malone, plan on traveling to Guatemala in April to help with the playground construction.

A white board and additional supplies will also be purchased.

"The kids in Guatemala are truly blessed," King said.

Now about that pie

It wasn't just the students at Musson that were excited about taking the "Be Kind" theme international. 

Third grade teacher Kristie Malone offered to dye her hair green if the students raised $1,500. 

Principal Victoria Righter, in honor of the "Raise the Roof" theme, offered to spend a day on the school roof if the students raised $2,500.

And, as you may have guessed, physical education teacher Frank Anthonis offered to take a pie in the face if $1,000 was raised.

And while the students thought it would be cool if they could pick the pie, Righter vetoed that idea.

"He's a willing participant," Righter said. "The least we could do was let him pick his favorite flavor!"

With the famous last words squeaked out, "I like pie?" Anthonis lived up to his end of the bargain with the whole school watching on Tuesday.

He just may never look at chocolate pie the same way again.