Westminster : Anthony Pupils Celebrate Good Job for Lady Liberty

The Statue of Liberty’s refurbishment got a big boost Friday, when Susan B. Anthony Elementary School put on a patriotic finale to a six-week-long fund drive that raised more than $2,000 for the project.

Pupils and teachers gathered in the auditorium for the ceremony, which included a reading of Emma Lazarus’ poem entitled”The New Colossus,” the words engraved in bronze on the base of the statue. (“ . . . Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . “) Each class group performed a different role in the fund drive, which Principal Robert Patterson called “a cooperative venture of parents, students and teachers.”

One class, for example, published a weekly newspaper, the Burns Bugle (named for a teacher). Pupils acted as reporters and editors, then sold the paper for a quarter a copy.

Throughout the six weeks, classes got together every Friday for bake sales featuring cakes and pastries donated by parents. One bake sale raised $135, Patterson said.

Perhaps the most noble effort was made by a teacher, Robert Johnson. For a $1 donation each, Johnson invited students to smash a cream pie in his face. More than 160 pupils stepped up to let the teacher have it.

Patterson said the students got so wrapped up in the fund-raising that their excitement “carried over to learning in the classroom,” and grades improved markedly.

The 99-year-old statue on Liberty Island in New York Harbor is undergoing major restoration sponsored entirely by private donations.