Pennies for Peace, Narragansett Elementary (Rhode Island) It is delightful to share with you that the 3rd Grade students at Narragansett Elementary are participating in the Pennies for Peace campaign throughout the month of April. Pennies for Peace is a service-learning project designed to broaden students’ cultural horizons, while teaching them about their capacities as philanthropists – one penny at a time. Pennies for Peace is a program out of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg Mortenson – author of the #1 New YorK Times best seller, Three Cups of Tea. Since 1996, CAI has built nearly 100 schools in Afghanistan and PaKistan, which serve more than 28,000 students – over 14,000 of them are girls who normally are not offered an education in this region. How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in our community. However, in the villages of PaKistan and Afghanistan, a penny can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life. In addition, this program connects to the 3rd Graders’ social studies unit - Diversity. Being an affective communal, national and global citizen will provide students with a sense of inclusion, supporting their positive life-long learning. The 3rd grade as a whole was introduced to the campaign and its’ global connections through an informative power point presentation with photographs and a video explaining the important features, places, and people involved in Pennies of Peace. The 3rd graders were divided in four groups and worked on the following activities: creating a summary of the text Listen To The Wind (the picture book version of Three Cups of Tea), writing letters to their 7th Grade Pen Pals sharing their knowledge about Pennies for Peace, constructing a comparative essay about Narragansett Elementary and the Korphe School in Pakistan, and helping to design/decorate a bulletin board showcasing the children of Korphe, Greg Mortenson’s story, and the KaraKoram Mountains in PaKistan. Through our participation in Pennies for Peace, the students apply their knowledge of diversity and enthusiastic behavior towards a contemporary issue our worldwide community is faced with. If the Pennies for Peace campaign at Narragansett Elementary has inspired you too to learn more, checK out their website at www.penniesforpeace.org/ and continue to spread the peace throughout your communities as well! By Jessica Lima, Student Teacher Pam WestKott's 3rd Grade Class Narragansett, RI .