What would your life be like if you had never gone to school? Not meaning if you had completed college or finished high school, but if you had not even had the chance to go to Grade 1. How different would your life be? You wouldn’t be able to read, write, and probably could not count past 10. What would you do?

Many children around the world deal with a reality like this every day. Which is why when the Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School Student Parliament (SPAR) went looking for a raison d’être, Free the Children’s Brick by Brick: Education for All program seemed perfect. The Brick by Brick campaign supports school building projects in developing countries.

“We didn’t just want to throw a couple of coffee houses and call it a year,” explained Clare Hutchinson, a main co-ordinator for the fundraiser and a SPAR member. “Why not use our position to achieve a little good? We wanted to have a humanitarian project, organized by SPAR, but involving the entire school population.”

And after receiving such a fabulous new facility this year, SPAR decided to spread the love around.

“Education is a powerful thing,” said Lynlee Armstrong, another co-ordinator. “We students at (BMLSS) take that fact for granted, often dismissing our classes, our homework and going to school.”

The four girls organizing the fundraising are aiming to remind students how lucky they are.

This year the students of BMLSS received a new school. Along with that came new supplies, new textbooks, new everything.

“People don’t realize how lucky we are to have a brand new school,” pointed out Allison Holder, the youngest of the four co-ordinators. She’s only in Grade 9 and yet she recognizes how valued education is.

“People in Third World countries would give up (so much) to live the way we do and receive the free education that we have,” she continued.

So SPAR came up with a slogan, “We had a school built for us… now we’re building a school for them!” and started fundraising.

The kickoff was March 26, when two assemblies were held to alert the students of the challenge. Just by collecting whatever pocket change students had with them, SPAR managed to raise over $300. The assemblies featured a musical performance, a movie/slide show and a game of life-sized Jenga to get “into the building spirit,” Hutchinson explained.

The week of March 31 started the homeroom challenge, where students were encouraged to bring in donations from either themselves or family, and gather the most pocket change to donate. Mr. Crowe’s class won, bringing in a whopping $349, followed in second place by Mr. Hodson’s class, who donated $189. Between the homeroom challenge, the assemblies and other pocket change, SPAR collected over $1,600 for the school building project.

The school won’t actually be built by the students of BMLSS, Hutchinson clarified. The students of BMLSS just have to raise the money. The cost includes a large school building, furniture, textbooks and supplies, teacher accommodations if they’re needed and, in some cases, lunch programs. The total amount needed is $8,500. SPAR hopes to have the majority of the fundraising finished by the last week of April or the first few weeks of May.

“I find it so wonderful that as a student body we can build another school for children we don’t even know in another country,” enthused Holder. “By doing so we are making a huge impact on their lives.”

Also, the students of BMLSS can keep an eye on their progress without having to rely on the announcements. The program sent a poster of a schoolhouse that features 50 bricks to colour in. No, the actual school does not have just 50 bricks. The bricks on the poster are just there to record fundraising progress. So the $8,500 divided by 50 bricks comes out to around $170 per brick.

SPAR has really planned for this, too. After their assemblies, they hosted a coffeehouse where the school’s talent — including Allison Holder — performed and other students could listen for just $2. There were also hot drinks and yummy cupcakes for sale. Next on their list of events to hold is a penny drive, a dance and a movie night. All the profits will, of course, go to Brick by Brick.

Hutchinson, Holder and Armstrong, along with fellow organizer Jolene Cushman are four girls who know the value of education, and how sharing it will only make the world a better place. They’re out to prove to the world that even students like themselves can make a difference.

“I’m very dedicated to giving back to our global community,” Hutchinson said. “And the day we take education for granted is a very dark day indeed. This is a very tangible way for us to help, and it’s great for students to learn that anything and everything, even their pocket change, their nickels and quarters, can make a difference.”

And now the community has a chance to make a difference too. On May 7, the local McDonald’s has agreed to donate 15 per cent of every purchase to Brick by Brick. Tickets will be handed out well in advance, and they will hopefully be available around town, as well as in the school’s main office and in the sportsplex. So, the deal is, provide the ticket and you will also be helping to provide a student in Kenya with an education. Sounds like an OK deal. SPAR would also like to say that private and corporate donations are being accepted at this time, and would be much appreciated.

To learn more about either Brick by Brick or Free the Children, visit www.freethechildren.com. Remember, we can all make a difference.