THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 13, 1994 TAG: 9412130278
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The kids at Larrymore Elementary School have been doing a lot of chores at home lately, and they're helping not just their parents.
It's part of Larrymore's ``joy jug'' program. Students get pennies from parents for each good deed they do. But it's not for their own piggy banks; it's for the Joy Fund.
On Friday, they started bringing to school their plastic joy jugs, full of pennies, and dumping the contents into Larrymore's wheelbarrow.
Today, Principal Peggie Robertson hopes to deliver about $800 - or nearly $1 per student.
``We want them to know how good it feels inside to do for others,'' Robertson said. ``We want them to learn the spirit of caring and giving, and get away from the idea that they always have to get something for Christmas.''
Or, as fourth-grader Stephanie Snyder said in a composition she wrote about the program: ``It is easy to earn money for the Joy Fund. All you need to do is help people.''
Many of the children did their good deeds around the house in the past few weeks.
Fifth-grader David Murphy took out the garbage, put the dishes in the dishwasher - and made sure he finished his homework before his mother came home from work.
Lindsey Dirubbo, another fifth-grader, did similar chores and got a bonus from her mother: ``She said if I didn't get into a fight with her over doing my homework, I would get two pennies.''
Second-grader Jessica Landry vacuumed the house, weeded the garden, took out the trash and walked the animals and - perhaps the most selfless deed - helped her 3-year-old sister clean her room.
Nicole Owens, another second-grader, also was a good big sister. She helped bathe her 9-month-old brother and feed him. But she admitted: ``Sometimes he sneezes a lot on me.'' She also vacuumed her mother's Jeep and van.
Grandparents also got some help. Stephanie helped set the table and lined up the ingredients for her grandmother to cook spaghetti and sausage last week.
Fifth-grader Adrian Hunter said: ``I walked my granddad around the block because he can't walk that good. It made me feel happy.''
Second-grader Dexter Cameron picked up trash on the street. ``You always should pick up trash,'' Dexter said. ``One day when my brother turns 4, I'm going to teach him that.''
The kids said they didn't mind the extra work. ``I feel glad because people who don't have money can get money to get Christmas presents for their children and their parents,'' said Lauren Linett, a fourth-grader.
Shirley Morris, who has two grandchildren at Larrymore, said: ``I think it's great. It gives them responsibility, and it makes them proud of themselves.''
And a good math lesson even can be made out of it, she said. ``They can learn to count with pennies, stacking them into tens,'' Morris said.
The children vow that the good deeds won't stop when the drive ends today.
``You can always do good stuff for people,'' said Roderick Owens, a fifth-grader. ``You don't have to do cleanup stuff for the Joy Fund; you can do it every day.'' ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER
Staff
Larrymore Elementary School students dump their ``joy jugs'' of
pennies into a wheelbarrow at the school on Monday. Students
collected the money by doing good deeds for their families.
KEYWORDS: JOY FUND by CNB