Naperville middle school students are giving children in another part of the world a gift they themselves often take for granted: access to education.
In less than a year, students at Clifford Crone Middle School in Naperville raised more than $25,000 for the construction of a one-room school in Ghana. The school partnered with Pencils of Promise, a group that works with communities across the globe to build schools and create programs that provide education opportunities for children, no matter where they were born or what resources they have.
Pencils of Promise has broken ground on more than 200 schools throughout Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos, and now the group will be able to break ground on another because of the efforts of Crone students and staff.
Since the start of the school year, students have participated in a variety of fund-raising activities to meet their $25,000 goal.
On Friday, Naperville Mayor George Pradel stopped by the school to congratulate all the kids and adults who looked outside the boundaries of their own community to make a difference in the lives of students in Ghana.
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The inspiration for the effort to build a school came from Principal Allan Davenport after he read the book, “The Promise of a Pencil,” the story of the founder of Pencils of Promise and how an ordinary person can create extraordinary change. At the start of the school year, Davenport challenged students to make a difference during the year.
In all, Crone Middle School raised $26,297.
“Yes, we reached our goal and in fact have exceeded it,” Davenport said. “I am waiting for the information to come from the Pencils of Promise folks as to where in Ghana our school will be. We are so proud of our students!”