Yellowknife (Feb 11/04) - A celebration of 100 days spent in class quickly grew into a school-wide challenge at J.H. Sissons last week.

Left to right: Aiden Charpentier and Sara Ibey with Randy White in front. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo

One primary class decided to expand the second annual observance of 100 days of learning with a can drive. It challenged other classes to rummage up 100 cans of non-perishable food each.

The final tally of 757 donations shocked Shelley Strong, whose Grade 1-2 class started the mini-blitz came up with the dare.

"We got way more than we expected," said Strong.

The response comes just a month after the school donated more than a thousand cans to the Yellowknife Food Bank for the Christmas drive.

"It's important for the kids to think outside themselves and their families," she said.

Staff at the school did some creative math to help kids understand the impact of their generosity. Based on a family of four consuming 10 cans of food a day, Strong figured a family could eat for 75 days on the school's contribution.

"They can physically see how much food we've collected and how many people that can feed," said the teacher.

Students in Strong's class pushed the theme a little farther for the last day of can collection.

They dropped the last cans of tuna and Zoodles in the box wearing costumes of beards, canes and cardigans as if they were themselves 100 years old.