Keansburg 4th Graders Open a Store

These elementary school students want you to shop at their store!

Barbara Leary is a fourth grade teacher at Joseph C. Caruso School in Keansburg, and she is teaching her students how to reach out and help our community. You will be amazed at all they have accomplished, and now they are hoping to get many shoppers to their store.

The store is called Wish Beyond the Whiskers and proceeds will benefit the Monmouth County Sheriff Department's K-9 Unit and the Monmouth County SPCA. Students are running the entire store.Their slogan is: "Buy some more so the pets won't be poor!"

These animal-loving kids in Mrs. Leary's class applied for their chosen jobs (cashiers, baggers, personal shoppers, security, barkery employees, and stock) and were interviewed by their teacher for their positions. Then the students began advertising for their store. They are now in the process of pricing donations and making commercials (for the school) for their store. You are welcome to make a donation to their store.

The grand re-opening of Wish Beyond the Whiskers is from March 15th - 18th. Store hours for the public are on March 15th from 5 pm - 7 pm in Room 19 at the school. (There are also hours during school: March 15, 17 & 18 from 9:30 - 11:30 am  and 12:40 - 2:30 pm, and March 16th from 10:45 - 11:30 am and Noon - 2:30 pm.)

Prices for items range from 50 cents to 20 dollars. There will be several raffles as well for items like ferry tickets, Jets, Giants and NJ Devils items, and dinners for two at local restaurants. All raffle tickets are 1 dollar., and winners do not need to be present to win.

The students will also be at Texas Roadhouse in Holmdel on Saturday, March 5th, Noon - 3 pm, to raise money for Wish Beyond the Whiskers. Students will again be raffling a dinner for two both days. 100% of the money raised will be donated to the MCSPCA and K-9 Unit.

And that's not all these students have done! The kids' first project was to open a 'barkery' in their classroom last November where they sold baked goodies for people, and treats for cats and dogs.They also had a survey where students in the entire school were able to vote on which items they most wanted sold at Wish Beyond the Whiskers. Toys were the winning choice. Money raised was used to purchase pet oxygen masks for a local firehouse.

In December, several students joined their teacher at Texas Roadhouse to raise money for the MCSPCA and the K-9 Unit, and earned a total of $326! The students decided to purchase holiday toys for the animals at the shelter for Christmas with half of the proceeds. And half of the money went to the K-9 Unit.

And, just before Christmas, Jazmyn and Nenagh went to Boscov's to wrap gifts, joined by Sheriff Officer Aretino and his police dog Ari, along with Sheriff Sean Golden. The girls raised $70 that day for the K-9 Unit.

So proud of these kids for setting the bar high on community involvement! And what a great teacher Mrs. Leary is!