WESTBROOK – Students at Westbrook Middle School have raised more than $1,300 as part of a penny drive to benefit the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last month.

Suzanne Ray, a seventh-grade teacher and student council adviser at the school, said the kids do a penny drive for charity annually, as part of a series of schoolwide activities throughout the school year to demonstrate school spirit.

“It just happened that this (tragedy) happened at that time of the year,” she said.

The magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the Japanese coast, followed by a tsunami, which devastated coastal communities such as Sendai. Ray pointed out to her students that the total numbers of casualties to date are larger than the entire city of Westbrook’s population.

The fund drive kicked off on March 18 with a presentation to the entire school, held in the performing arts center, including slide shows depicting the devastation. After that presentation, Ray said, the students were committed to helping the relief efforts.

This week, members of the student council, who helped supervise the collection of the donations, said dedicating the proceeds of the drive to the Japan relief efforts was easy, especially since the events were unfolding right before their eyes.

“A lot of our classes watched videos of it,” said seventh-grader Kayla Fahey.

Rebecca Bramble, also in seventh grade, said she remembered first hearing of the tragedy, and that a possible tidal wave was about to strike Hawaii, where some members of her family lived.

“I was just freaking out,” she said.

Luckily, her family was unhurt, but, Bramble said, it made the tragedy feel a little more personal.

Dianne Fahey, Kayla’s sister, said watching videos about it and discussing it in class as it happened made it feel more real, and made the penny drive mean more.

“Seeing it actually happening was different than just hearing about it,” she said.

Ray said the students raised money by putting out bins at various locations around the school, where students could pitch in pennies.

Traditionally, each grade gets school spirit points based on how many pennies it gets, but “saboteurs” can also put dollar bills and any non-penny change in the bins. All the money counts as a donation, but the non-penny currency found in a grade’s bin subtracts points from a particular grade’s total. Ray said the system encourages the students to donate more money in the name of friendly competition.

“One sixth-grader brought in a $50 bill to sabotage the seventh grade,” said Nick Zabenko, an eighth-grader on the student council.

In the end, the sixth grade got the most points, with a total of $198.42 in pennies, but the entire school amassed a total, both in pennies and non-pennies, of $1,386.97. The money, Ray said, will be converted into a check to be sent to the Red Cross Japan Relief Fund.

“It’s so great when there’s something like this, where they want to reach out and help,” Ray said.

Jennifer Gaylord, executive director of the American Red Cross of United Valley in Lewiston, called the middle school efforts “fantastic,” and said many schools throughout the state have reached out in support of the relief fund.

“We’re blessed to have such great, wonderful children,” she said.

As of March 21, the Red Cross has raised $85,000,000 nationwide, and continues to raise money for relief efforts.

Student Council President Nicole Labbe said she would like to try inviting other area middle schools to try to beat their number.

“We made quite a bit, but that would bring in a lot more,” she said.

Students at Westbrook Middle School show off an oversized check for $1,386.97 they raised for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The students raised the money by doing a penny drive, with donation buckets located throughout the school. (Staff photo by Sean Murphy)