MAPLE GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3085 Alkire Street
Golden, Colorado 80401

April 9, 1999

Dear LANSA members,

We are currently nearing the end of our 3rd year as an elementary school bank note club.  Time passes so fast!  Our young sixth grade members are now making plans for their active summer vacations.  Their thoughts have also included their upcoming change into a middle school situation, which of course makes them very anxious to have such a major change in their lifestyle.

Our club began the school year with nearly 55 members and will conclude the school year with two-thirds of these very same young people still very active in bank note collecting.  All are looking to the upcoming Denver Coin Show in mid-May as a time to find those specialized notes for their ever-growing Mylar folders.  The "treasure trove" for these young people are always those bargain note bins supplied by numerous dealers who know that this is truly a great starting point to introduce the young people into the hobby.

Our group took a very interesting change in direction this year with our school district changing the boundaries of our geography studies.  In past years our goal has been to cover the seven continents in our studies of the world's peoples but this year our direction has been to specialize on the countries of Central and South America.  As our in-depth lessons have taken us into new understandings of the peoples and cultures of these regions, our bank note collecting has been more specialized.  Large collections of Latin American notes became very predominant as well as a very keen interest developed into the peoples, coats of arms, and other representations found on these pieces of currency.  Historic leaders of these countries became more meaningful as our students could associate those people studied in class with their portraits found represented on so many bank notes!  Latin American scenes and historical events represented on notes were used as the basis on several geography reports as well as individual research mde into many national coats of arms.  Truly a great way to incorporate a fun hobby into a tremendous classroom learning situation!!!

Again it is time for our young people to thank the many LANSA members who continually supported us through their kind and generous gifts of numerous small parcels of notes, reference materials, and thoughful letters of encouragement.  With your help and thoughts, I am happy to "graduate" another group of youngsters into the world of bank note collecting.  Many of these people I hope will be the future LANSA members of the 21st Century . . . . . continuing our hobby for generations to come!

Barry Carithers
Sixth grade teacher & sponsor
Maple Grove World Bank Note Collectors Club
c/o 12512 //w. 68th Avenue
Arvada, Colorado  80004 USA