Well my kids reminded me today how much this project has come to mean to them. The TA from my class last year came to visit. The kiddies were thrilled to see him. I had a combined class last year, so half of my class had worked with him. After about 10 minutes, he stated that he had bread tabs for us. As he dug into one of his pockets, one of my students also started to help him, by digging into his pocket. They grabbed the ice cream container, scooped them all in, and promptly thanked him.

They have begun to scour all areas for our little bag closing marvels. We have been on three field trips recently. One was for the purpose of releasing salmon we had raised in our classroom, another to tour the middle school they are attending and another to the seashore. At each of these sites I had at least one student come up to me with a smile and a "Madame, look what I found just laying on the ground." I hope they don't start snagging them from fresh bread at the grocery store. :s

One of my students from last year, who has moved on to middle school, stopped by this week with a bag of about 300 tabs. This is the second time he has made a bread tab drop-off. The school librarian came in with a large bag from the hospital cafeteria where her mom works. Did I ever mention we have an amazing little community school?

Now for some of those strange occurrences surrounding this project. One day, while checking my school e-mail, I get a message from someone I don't know asking if I wanted her bread tabs. She said she had found out about our endeavor on Kijiji. For those who don't know, Kijiji is a kind of on-line classified ads with which I have never had any association. I was seriously confused! I said I would love to have them and said I would meet her somewhere to pick them up. This from the mom who keeps telling her son to beware of random people met via the internet.

It ended up that she had been saving bread tabs for some philanthropic purpose. This cause no longer accepts bread tabs, so she decided to post her collection on Kijiji to provide them with a good home. A co-worker saw the ad, told her about what we were attempting to do and gave her my e-mail so that we could connect. When she learned that we were at Geary Elementary, she informed me that a co-worker of hers had a daughter at our school in grade one. She sent them with her. That dear little girl came into school a couple of days later with a smile threatening to split her cheeks and a "Madame, look what my mom sent in for you!" Slightly over 1 300 bread tabs. Unbelievable!

The year is nearing the end and I have just about completed their report cards. Each report ends with a friendly note: "Have a great summer! Enjoy middle school. Be kind to everyone you meet. Keep saving those bread tabs!" Yes, I have officially become "The Crazy Bread Tab Lady"!