THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406070140
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: ISLE OF WIGHT
With a little help from one fourth-grade teacher, Blair Meador, they are turning their pennies, nickels and dimes left from their lunch money into pencils, erasers, chalk, magic markers, paper and pens.
{REST} The project started when Meador's daughter, Jennifer, came to talk with the fourth graders in February about her experiences as a missionary in Russia. One of the things she told the students, her mother said, was that school supplies in Russia are so expensive since communism fell in that country that the average Russian family simply can't afford those things.
``And it seems that the teachers do without a lot of things we consider necessary,'' Blair Meador said.
Jennifer Meador, like her mother, is also a teacher. She taught for several years at Smithfield High School before she joined a non-denominational group of missionary-teachers called The Navigators.
``Jennifer teaches the Russian educators how to teach Christianity in the schools,'' her mother said.
The missionary-teacher left her home in Smithfield more than a year ago. Since then, her mother said, she's had one ``furlough'' home.
It was then that she talked with the Hardy fourth graders. She returned to Russia in March for another prolonged stay.
Jennifer Meador lives in St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad. It's a city near Helsinki, on the Bay of Finland, Blair Meador said.
``We met her in Switzerland last summer,'' she said. ``Then, we bought little things like paper and scissors and magic markers for her to take to the children. They were really appreciated.''
After her daughter had talked with the children about Russia and public education there, Meador asked them if they would like to help with the situation.
``I told them that the Russian children's parents just don't have the money to buy things we have every day,'' she said.
In Russia, Jennifer Meador said, the children mostly leave the city and go out into the country to work on family farms, often with grandparents. When fall comes, they bring the harvest back to the cities with them and start school.
Some of those Russian children will be pleasantly surprised this fall when they see all of the school supplies sent to them by the children at Hardy Elementary.
``The children collected money for a couple of weeks,'' Blair Meador said. ``We always collected after lunch, so they called it their `after lunch' money. Many of them gave up popsicles. They gave what they had.''
Some of the youngster even brought money from their penny banks at home. Fourth graders Alissa Clark and Tracy Austin were top contributors.
``Both of them brought jars of pennies,'' Meador said.
With the money collected, Meador went shopping for the Russian kids. She bought everything the American kids had on their list and took it to school for all to see before it was shipped.
``The end of their school year is June as well,'' Meador said. ``They won't get these things until the fall. We'll put a card in each box to let them know who the supplies are from.''
by CNB