St. Scholastca Students Raise $1,800 for Tanzania School for Orphans

students recently raised almost $1,800 for a school for orphans in Imiliwaha, Tanzania. 

The money will be sent to Sister Afra Mgwama, who spent time at St. Scholastica while studying for her master's degree from Benedictine University. 

The fundraiser, "Socks for Sister," required students to donate change in large athletic socks. Grades compete against one another for the most points. Pennies earn points. Silver coins and dollar bills take away points. 

"Competition gets fierce, but it’s lots of fun and raises money for good cause," wrote two eighth-graders in a school release. 

"The lower grades collected their funds in a friendly competition, but the older kids called for war," the release said. "The tallies each day were nerve wracking! The sixth graders overtook the seventh graders and we knew they wanted to beat us as well.

As eighth-graders, we had a certain image to protect. We devised a plan that we knew would shut out our competition.

In the final days of the penny wars, with all three middle school classes neck-and-neck, eighth-grader Sean Fields went to three banks to obtain $300 in pennies. Then, with the help of a few friends, he unwrapped all of the rolls and dumped them into a wheelbarrow. On the final morning of the Penny Wars, Sean and his bodyguards wheeled our class’ winning contribution past open-mouthed rivals.

Our reputation is safe as eighth graders."

Any class that donated $150 will be allowed to bring breakfast to school one day. The K-5 class and middle school class with the most points will receive a pizza lunch.