Really, Really Close

Well, it has been almost two years since I have posted on this blog. In case you were wondering, the movers did not read my note from the last post. Two boxes cracked and bread tabs spilled over the truck. Yes, we will be (sigh) recounting those boxes. We are currently at 976 800 bread tabs and I believe we have enough uncounted ones in the class to make our goal. Since we have moved back to our building a few interesting things have happened. A journalist from The Daily Gleaner came by to write an article about us moving in to our new digs. While there, she spotted the bread tabs, asked questions, took pictures and wrote an article. CBC NB saw the article and they came out to find out what we were doing. Many people have mailed and driven bread tabs to us since then. A dear sweet man from Blackville drove down with tabs he had been saving for years. His wife kept asking him why he was saving them and he said that someone would need them some day. He was right. He spent about twenty minutes with the class telling them about some of his history and filling them in on the history of the foot bridge in Priceville. It was great. One of my students remarked that he was a good example of what we had been talking about lately. We had been discussing making a difference and doing good things for the world without necessarily getting anything back. This whole project has been an example of that. I am desperately trying to come up with ideas for a one million bread tab party. If anyone has a suggestion please let me know. I will let you know when we get there.

Another Year Draws to a Close

Our fourth year of trying to get to one million has drawn to a close. The picture above shows 552 672 little plastic closures. Once again, thank you for all the support. From the one bread tab that my sister picked up on a trail at Fundy Park to the half a grocery bag from UNB Food Services, every single one of them is getting me closer to the goal of being able to show my kiddies what one million looks like. I won't be able to post another picture like this for awhile. Our school is being renovated and we are receiving a much needed new gym as well! 400 000 of our tabs will be going into storage for a year. I am just hoping beyond hope that none of the containers get spilled in the move. I am going to put a note on them to explain the project to the movers. "To Whom It May Concern, these containers each contain 100 000 bread tabs. We are trying to get to one million. If these spill we will never reach our goal, 4 years worth of students will be disappointed and one teacher may never, ever recover. The fate of all of the above is in your oh so capable hands. Sincerely, The Crazy Bread Tab Lady" Do you think this would work? As I was packing up my room today, I found a note from a dear sweet boy in my class. It said, "Dear Madame Peters, You're the best! I like it when you let us count bread tabs." Oh, how I have warped the minds of the wee ones in my care. There is already a huge bag of tabs ready to meet a new year of kidlings in a new location.

500 000 bread tabs and visitors galore!

We are half way to one million! What an exciting day! I had a high school friend, who now lives in Ontario, come to visit today. She brought along her son and daughter, who were on March Break. They wanted to see our project. They even brought a contribution of 1069 tabs. (My kiddies estimated it was 1000 before they counted. Close, very close.) What a thrill when I started asking how much they had at each table and they realized that we had made it to the halfway point. They helped us fill our new 100 000 container and then pictures were taken. Later on, a dear, sweet former student from our school stopped by. Even though he left our school in grade 1 or 2, his grandfather has been continuing to bring in bread tabs on a regular basis. I was so happy to be able to show him that we had made it halfway. How long will it take to get the next half? The majority of my students think it will take less than the three and one half years it took to collect the first half. I think they may just be right.

The Half Way Point is in Sight

Sitting here, at home, on the first day of March Break, wide awake at 6:00 a.m., what else would one do but update their bread tab blog. Our new total is 495 539 bread tabs, and there are more, at school, sitting, patiently, waiting to be counted. I am quite positive that when all are counted bagged and added (with regrouping of course)that we will be on the downhill slide towards one million. Three years and six months ago we began this crazy voyage. It continues to amaze me how people will do anything to support the education of our wee ones. I would like to give a little shout out to the university community. Over the last couple of weeks a little girl from grade one, and her dad, came to my room to deliver a 2/3 full grocery bag of bread tabs. Dad works at McConnell Hall, which is a dining hall, at the University of New Brunswick. He has been encouraging everyone there to save their little plastic closures. When the contents of the bag were counted we were 8623 bread tabs closer to our goal! Incredible! People have told me that eventually the resources will dry up, but new ones keep popping up. As well, I would like to thank some talented young music students at St. FX University who diligently put their tabs away for me. Lately, my math focus has been subtracting with regrouping, to prepare them for the adventure of long division. I fear I may have warped my students' dear sweet little minds. When I ask how many tens are in 1 234, some of them just look at me and I can see that the question is not registering. If I say, "If you had 1 234 bread tabs and divided them up into tens bags, how many tens bags would you have?", the number 123 comes tripping off of most of their tongues pretty readily. I may have to pass this information on to the middle schools they will be attending next year. On a totally non-math related topic, the kiddies and I are constantly amazed by what arrives in our baggies of bread tabs, that are not bread tabs. We decided to keep a list. Several of these things have arrived multiple times. Here is our list:a) pop can tabs (We send these to a school that is collecting them to get a wheelchair), b)twist tie, c) safety pin, d)a dog tag with the name Bailey on it (It was sent home with a student of the same name.), e)a Catholic medal of Mary, f)a 1/2 cup measuring cup, g)a square metal nut, h)a small plastic toilet (The kiddies fought over that one.),i)a button, j)a steri-strip, k)an expired coupon for a free cheeseburger at McDonalds, l)a finishing nail, m)a tack, n) a pin, o)a bobby pin, p)a teeny tiny nail (These are the students' words.), q)a paper clip, r)a red Christmas tree light, s)a screw and t)pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters which all get put in our IWK Children's Hospital bucket (Although, admittedly, not always voluntarily. Positive peer pressure always wins out, however) The journey continues, thanks for your interest in this bizarre project

The Counting Continues

Here we are at the end of December. The kiddies are home dreaming of what Santa will bring them and I have visions of 500 000 bread tabs before the end of the year dancing in my head. I wonder if there is a support group for this. Last week was a bread tab counting extravaganza. I kept my promise and invited the students, that had left my room, back and we had an estimating, tabulating, place value considering, rollicking good time. Forty grades four and five students all huddled around tables in my room, counting tens, hundreds and thousands. My intern from UNB, the teacher from the other class and I wandered around replenishing the tables as the sandwich and freezer bags got filled. The grade fours were very cute. Never having done this before, exclamations of "I already have one hundred" rang out around the room. The grade fives, to their credit, just smiled, said nothing, but looked at me with a "One hundred is NOT a big deal" look on their faces. By the end of the class, the kiddies had counted and bagged 16 870 bread tabs! Quite a feat! We had had estimates of between 15 000 and 20 000, so not bad at all. We are currently sitting at 465 355 bread tabs. Only 34 645 left to get to the halfway mark. We have moved ahead much faster than I predicted. I appreciate all the donations. I couldn't do it without you. While I have been enjoying my kiddies and the things the Christmas season brings to an elementary school, the staff, parents and students of Sandy Hook Elementary have been consistently in my thoughts and prayers. When I looked around the gym on the last day of school, as we all sat in our PJ's, drinking hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols, I could not help but think of that dear school that could not celebrate Christmas together, but rather are just trying to figure out how they can move on. Please keep them in your prayers as well.

Year Four Begins

Year Four is off to a roaring start and our fourth hundred thousand container has been filled. Once again family, friends and the amazing school community has flooded us with bread tabs. I am amazed by the continued and consistent support. My year began with a very excited class of 29 grade 5 students, who have watched this plastic collection grow since they were in the second grade. Several of them have sent in tabs via older brothers and sisters that have experienced this quest for one million first-hand. It is amazing how quickly groups of 10, 100 and 1000 can be counted by highly motivated Grade Fivers. When the students realized that we had enough to fill the next hundred thousand container, a cheer went up that drew interest from the class next door. Although none of them had been there before when "a big container", their behaviour was exactly the same as every other time. Little hands were plunged through the tabs, handfuls of tabs ran through fingers like pirates with gold and smiles that would make a crocodile jealous lit up the room. Due to class numbers over the limit, changes occurred and I now have 20 students in my room. As I was, sadly, sending some of my dear wee ones to another class I was a surprised and amused to hear their greatest concern. "Madame, if we go to the other Grade Five, does this mean that we can't come back for the one millionth bread tab celebration." While trying not to giggle,and yet feeling empathy for their very real concern, I assured them that they most certainly would be invited back. I also talked to the other teacher and asked if I could invite them back some time for a math class. She, with a smile and a laugh, said that I most certainly could. The little sweeties left my room with slightly lighter shoulders. One of the amazing custodians at our school came in and noted our fourth container. She said, "At this rate, you will definitely reach one million before you retire. What are you going to collect next?" Oh my heavens! I can't even begin to think about that!!! Our most recent total is 413 638. The picture up top is of how we show this on the bulletin board. Only 586 362 left to collect! Thanks for your continued support.

Another Successful End Of Year

I guess the title is a bit ironic, as it is just about time to start a new year. I had every intention of posting the year end total in June, but procrastination reigned. The picture above should give you some idea of what 382 052 bread tabs looks like. The large buckets each hold 100 000 and the smaller buckets each have 1 000. The bags hanging on the bulletin board are part of the count. This year, my dear little Gators, collected 178 364 plastic closures. One of my previous year's students brought in about 8 000 on her own. When I think back to the first year, when we collected 33 354.5 tabs, and one of my students informed me that, at that rate, it would take another 29 years, I am pretty pleased with how we're doing. In fact, I think people are actually beginning to believe that we will get to one million some day. A lot of people are asking, "What kind of celebration are you going to have when you get to a million?" The answer is that I really have no idea whatsoever. I have 3 grocery bags of tabs ready to greet my new Grade 5 kiddies. Thanks for of your support!