Students learn what one can do with a million tabs

Marty Kelpe's Jackson Middle School special education class has been collecting and counting can tabs since September. When they reach one million, the tabs will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis. From left, top row: Blake O'Kelly, Kelpe, Derek Werner, Leah Brazer and Cody Goodpasture. From left, bottom row: Terry Martin, Brandi Miller, Landon Hume, Tyler King and Nathan Clifton. Brazer and Goodpasture are seventh-graders who are assisting Kelpe's students through a project for their community service class.By Janis M. Gosche ~ Southeast Missourian

By the time Jackson Middle School special education students have reached their can tab goal, they will know exactly what one million of something looks like and learned a lot of math along the way.

"You don't hear them say, 'I've done that a million times,' any more because they know what that means," said JMS special education teacher Marty Kelpe, referring to her students. "And when we started, they kept asking, 'Are we to a million yet?' but they don't ask that anymore because they know we are just in the hundreds of thousands."

Since they began in September, Kelpe's class has collected and counted 264,229 tabs. When they reach one million, the tabs will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis. The Ronald McDonald House provides room and board for families of seriously ill children receiving medical treatment.

Special education students involved in the tab-collecting project include: Terry Martin, Justin Tomlinson, Tyler King (math only), Blake O'Kelly, Derek Werner, Brandi Miller, Nathan Clifton, Landon Hume and Joshua Bowen.

Learning to count

These students count an average of 20,000 tabs each Friday. Sometimes the project takes all day or even flows over into Monday.

"We always start with an estimation of what they think we will count that day," Kelpe said. "They used to start with 50 or 100, but now they know to go into the thousands, so they have already learned."

Along with estimation, the tab project provides an opportunity to study place value, multiplication and addition.

"I've learned how to count by twos, fives, ones, tens and hundreds and thousands," said student Nathan Clifton.

In addition to math skills, Kelpe's students learn sportsmanship as they applaud the best estimator of the day. They also learn manners when they go from classroom to classroom collecting tabs. They must knock and ask for the tabs politely, Kelpe said.

Seventh-graders Leah Brazer and Cody Goodpasture accompany one of Kelpe's students when collecting tabs. This assistance is part of a project for their community service class.

Kelpe first came up with the idea to collect one million tabs when she was teaching in Festus two and a half years ago, and she read the book "How Much Is A Million" by David M. Schwartz. It took Festus Middle School two years to accumulate a half-million tabs.

When Kelpe's JMS students reach one million tabs, they and the top 10 tab donors will be treated to a pizza party in the special education classroom. All tabs will be displayed in the school gym before being hauled off to the Ronald McDonald House.

"Terry and Nathan are the fastest counters here," said seventh-grader Tyler King, speaking of Clifton and another student, Terry Martin.

Not only does Martin enjoy counting tabs, she also likes the fact that the tabs will be donated to help "give some love" to those who have to deal with cancer and other serious illnesses, she said.

"Terry counts more than the rest of the class together," Kelpe said. "She doesn't want to go home. She wants to finish up."

Most tabs have come from individual students who donate them through their class, however Jackson American Legion Post 158 and Lloyd's bar in Jackson also contribute to the cause.

In addition, Cape Girardeau's Wal-Mart gave 22,000 tabs to the project in honor of Jennifer, Troy and Nathaniel Pehle. Several members of the Pehle family, including JMS sixth-grade teacher Betty Meyer, temporarily lived at St. Louis' Ronald McDonald House while Nathaniel was treated for a lung condition at Cardinal Glennon Hospital.

"The tab project has become a real school builder, a community builder," said Meyer, Nathaniel's grandmother.

For more information on Jackson Middle School's tab collecting project, call Kelpe at 243-9543. For more information on collecting tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, call the Tab Top Hotline at (314) 773-1100, extension 12 or 17.

jgosche@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133