WHEN & WHERE:

Friday, May 29
2:00 p.m.

Starrett Elementary School
2675 Fairmont Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75052

WHY:

Students in Stelwagen’s 2000-2001 class were inspired by David M. Schwartz’s “How Much is a Million?” After reading the book, Stelwagen realized that the students had no concrete concept of just how much a million really was, so she and her class decided to collect a million soda can tabs. On February 23, 2009, nine years later, the 1 millionth tab was counted. The project has helped the students not only better quantify how many a million of something is, but also see a project through.

Located across the street from Cook Children’s Medical Center, the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth provides help, hope and a home-away-from home for the families of critically ill children who travel to the area for medical treatment. Pop tab donations like the one from Starrett Elementary contribute to the overall operating fund of the house, with annual donations from pop tabs contribute approximately $8,000 – depending on the variable price of aluminum. Last year, 906 families received lodging and care at the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth.

Veronica V. Sopher, Director of Public Information – Arlington ISD

CONTACT:

vsopher@aisd.net, 682-867-7342

Alicia Jenkins, Director of Development – Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth
Alicia.jenkins@ftworthrmh.org, 817-820-8933

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