PORT TOWNSEND — A small private school is participating in a program that encourages students to read while raising money to provide farm animals to poor communities across the world.
Students at the New Day Learning Academy are gathering pledges for each book they read, with goals tied to the purchase and delivery of specific animals to agricultural areas.
The effort is part of the “Read to Feed” program sponsored by Heifer International of Little Rock, Ark.
“The kids are learning how to make a difference,” said teacher Maxine Peirson.
“The animals are sent to places that don’t have a lot of economic stability, where having a pig makes a lot of difference to them.”
Peirson’s third- and fourth-graders are setting a goal of $120, which will pay for a single pig that can then be bred and used for sustenance and support.
Since the class is studying China, students hope the pig will go there, but they have no say as to where it will end up.
Gabriele Babik’s kindergarten class is raising money for chickens at $20 a flock.
Her class of four students could raise about $300, she said.
The students are collecting pledges for each task completed, asking family and neighbors to give for each book read.
Babik said most pledges are only a few dollars, but students can solicit multiple sponsors, and some get $30 for each book they read.
They can collect separate fees if they read the same book twice “as long as they put in the same effort,” but most of the students read new books each time, she said.
Heifer International publishes a catalog of how much it costs to give certain gifts, ranging from $20 for a flock of chicks to $5,000 for an “ark” containing a pair of 15 different animals that could be used to create a large working farm.
Heifer collects the money and purchases the animals where they will be used rather than shipping them. The cost includes training, Peirson said.
Participating in the program gives the children a sense of accomplishment, said one student.
“We are going to feel really happy that we helped another country,” said Hannah Walker, 9.
Walker said she wanted to help China “because it’s really cool with all the pandas.”
The New Day Learning Academy is a private school in its second year of operation, with four teachers and 14 students from kindergarten to fourth grade.
It operates out of the Calvary Community Church at 82 Romans Road, but instruction is nondenominational, Peirson said,
The school is holding open houses from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, April 26, and Thursday, April 28.
For more information about the school, visit www.newdaylearning.org or phone 360-379-1334.
For information about Heifer International, visit www.heifer.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.