HOWELL – Just prior to the end of the 2018-19 school year, second grade pupils at Howell’s Land O’ Pines Elementary School took helping the community to a new level, while linking their curriculum to a real-life situation.
On June 4, the children raised $700 by offering lemonade to their fellow pupils and to faculty members in exchange for a donation for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Second grade teacher Cynthia Imperiale said her students were learning about money in their math class and about economics in their social studies class.
“We linked a lot of the curriculum to be what we call cross-curricular, so it touches on everything, because we do not want to be teaching things separately and if the children can put it to a real-life situation, that is the goal,” Imperiale said.
Imperiale said with that thought about curriculum in mind, she, along with Desiree LoVoi, Renee Russo, Cassidi Terranova, Chrissy Trapani and John Foley, decided to have a lemonade stand.
“We decided to have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade to kids in the school at 50 cents a cup. Aramark, which runs our cafeteria, donated the cups, and parents donated lemons and water so all the proceeds could go to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, and we were able to raise $700,” Imperiale said.
She said the children enjoyed the responsibility of operating a lemonade stand.
The second-graders “loved selling lemonade to the younger pupils and the younger ones loved the fact they had the money themselves and it was not Mom buying something. They had the responsibility to buy it,” Imperiale said.
She said many parents donated more than 50 cents for a cup of lemonade because they knew the money was for a worthy cause.
“It was awesome, it is something we would like to start to do annually because we think it is a wonderful thing,” Imperiale said.
The proceeds were donated to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to benefit pediatric cancer research.
Prior to the lemonade sale, the second grade pupils undertook a marketing campaign that involved creating advertising posters and making daily announcements to promote the fundraiser.
Administrators thanked the Land O’ Pines families and Aramark for all of the support provided. They said the proceeds from the lemonade sale were donated to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
