70 pounds of school supplies collected for children in Afghanistan

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- In this week's A+ News story, FOX21 features a group of District 11 first graders who are making a difference for school children in Afghanistan.

They have collected dozens of school supplies to send overseas.

"Like pencils and crayons and paper and journals," Leonard said.

Leonard is in first grade at Helen Keller Elementary. Over the past few weeks he and his classmates collected these supplies for children in Afghanistan.

Leonard's teacher, Tina Robertson, said the idea came in part from his mom, who is currently serving overseas. Robertson said the goal was to encourage the students to take ownership in the project.

"I did not want it to be just something that I instituted, so I sent a letter home and asked parents to find their kids extra chores so they could earn money to spend on the school supplies," Robertson said.

Cree is also in first grade at Keller. She said she made her bed, emptied the dishwasher and did her laundry in order to earn money for the supplies. Cree said she bought crayons, notebooks and pencils for the girls and boys in Afghanistan.

"The children here really had a lot of fun picking out and gathering supplies that they really like, markers and things like that, that the children in Afghanistan maybe have never seen or used before," Robertson said.

In total, Robertson said the first graders collected more than 70 pounds of school supplies. She said they also wrote letters to the students overseas.

Now, Leonard's mom will deliver the supplies to schools near her base and when she returns. She said she is going to visit her son's class and share more about life in Afghanistan.

"I am hoping that they learned the importance of education and the importance of sharing our excitement about education with another culture," Robertson said.