Like many other Sudbury Catholic School classes, the Early Learning classroom at St. Raphael held a “100th day of school” celebration on February 13th. The students were asked to decorate hats with 100 different items – some chose dinosaurs, some chose pompoms, etc. As well, they took part in a variety of different activities that acknowledged the significance of the day. Rosemary Tripodi, the Early Learning Teacher and Domenic Vicedomini, the Early Childhood Educator decided that they wanted to tie their celebration to the virtue of the month which is compassion. They came up with an idea that they felt would teach their students about the importance of caring for others in their community while still focusing on the theme of “100”. Each student was asked to bring in 100 coins. They discussed with the class this idea and decided that any money that was brought in could be donated to the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer Foundation (NOFCC). The class talked about kids who were sick with cancer and that their collections of 100 coins could help support this worthwhile cause. Much to the surprise of Tripodi and Vicedomini, the students collected $135 dollars to donate. Expecting only pennies, the teachers were quite proud that their students made a connection – not only to their 100 coins, but that they understood the significance of supporting other kids who were ill in their community. “ What a wonderful show of support from our students in helping out such a wonderful cause as NOFCC,” Tripodi stated. “We knew the 100 day celebration would be fun but connecting to the virtue of compassion made it a much more powerful lesson for all of the students.” David Langlois, President of NOFCC was invited into the class so that the students could present him with a cheque for the foundation.