Students in Linda Loscalzo’s RISE class at Prodell Middle School joined with friends from the sixth grade to build a milk jug igloo.

“My students have been reading ‘Mr. Popper’s Penguins’ with their peers,” said Loscalzo. “To accompany the story, we decided to build an igloo and enlisted the help of all middle school students in reaching our goal of collecting 300 milk jugs. The students were extremely successful and collected 325 jugs in just three weeks.”

Each day, Ms. Loscalzo’s students participated in group and individual responsibilities, including counting the incoming jugs, making morning announcements about the collection and forming a layout plan for construction. They also practiced fundamental skills, such as following detailed instructions, working cooperatively with others and applying mathematics to real-world situations to problem solve.