HELP

We have hundreds of thousands of  stamps that need to be trimmed.  If you like volunteering for a worthy cause, please consider trimming stamps for The Stamp Network.  Nearly 100 K-6 grade students work in The Stamp Network for one recess each week.  They simply can not keep up counting, cutting, sorting and doing research on the stamps.  You may work at home at your own pace - no pressure.  Just stop in, get some stamps, trim them and return them to school when you are done.  Currently we have nine adult volunteers.  Most of them love it and some are becoming addicted!  They are learning so much from the research they do on interesting stamps that they feel compelled to check out!  Thank you volunteers!

December 2014 Count

The stamps continue to pour in.  Thank you to everyone who has collected.  The holiday season is a great time for collecting stamps.  Thanks for spreading the word to all your friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers.  We are very close to one third of a million stamps.

In addition to collecting stamps, you can help us by working at home or at school.  Counting, cutting and categorizing never ends.  We have about seven large copy paper boxes counted and ready to cut.  If you are interested in working, you will become a member of  "The Golden Scissors Club."  Send a note with your child, call me at school or just stop in my classroom to get a container of stamps to cut.  If you know someone who might be interested in helping, send me his/her name and I will contact him/her

Happy Holidays!  Don't forget to cut out those stamps on incoming Christmas cards!

Welcome

Welcome  We have been so busy collecting, counting, cutting, categorizing and doing research that we have totally neglected this blog.  It is the goal of The Stamp Network to activate the blog and keep it up-to-date.

The Stamp Network is a group of K-6 students who volunteer one recess a week to work with stamps.  During the 2013-14 school year, 78 students were "employed" by the Stamp Network.  To become a member students must complete an application form and have it signed by a parent.  They must also acquire a recommendation from a teacher.  They are then interviewed by the coordinator of The Stamp Network.  If hired, they receive a play one dollar bill for each recess they work.  During certain times of the year they will be able to purchase cool science items, small trinkets/toys, or occasionally a small sweet treat.

We are currently conducting interviews and hope to hire many new members.

Please help us by collecting cancelled stamps and sending them to school with any K-6 student.

We're Back

Still working on trying to post a message.  All I seem to be able to do is post the title.

We're Back - But Having Trouble Posting! Try Again Another Day

September Count 2013

The September count is complete and we are excited to announce that we are getting very close to the quarter million mark. We collected 9,303 stamps in September.  Our grand total is
240,196 stamps! 
How many stamps do we need to collect in October if we are to reach a quarter of a million stamps?  How many is a "quarter of a million" stamps?

Summer 2013 Update

It's been a long time since we have posted information so here is an update.  The Pre-K through sixth grade students continue to collect stamps and month by month have increased the monthly count.  Word of our project is spreading.  Our goal was to reach a quarter of a million by the end of the 2012-2013 school year.  Our grand total was close, with  

230,893 stamps!

Thank you for continuing to collect stamps during the summer months.

Challenge and Contest for December

During the month of December we will collect as many Christmas stamps as possible and display them in the elementary foyer.  The oldest Christmas stamp we currently have is 49 years old.  What year was it printed?  Post your answer here.
So, students, teachers, and anyone else who reads this post:  During the Thanksgiving holiday when you may be getting together with relatives, ask them if they have any old Christmas card envelopes that just might have stamps on them.  If the envelope is exceptionally interesting, please send the entire envelope.  Grandparents and great-grandparents can be great savers!   Maybe you will be lucky and be able to contribute the oldest Christmas stamp!

The classes who contribute the oldest as well as the class that contributes the most Christmas stamps will receive a treat in January.

Nearing 50,000 Stamps!

After the last collection of 9,093 stamps we certainly didn't expect another great collection.  But, wow . . . we collected 3,297 stamps for a grand total of 47,417.  The classroom collections ranged from 26 to 2,360 stamps.  Eight classrooms participated.  If those classes that didn't participate had collected just 26 stamps each, we would have had 338 more!  Teachers, thank you for encouraging your children to collect!

Challenge:  Will you be the class that donates the 50,000th stamp?  If you are, your class will receive a treat!

1,072 Hits

This Blog has been visited 1,072 times by people from the following countries: United States, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Romania, Indonesia, Germany and Singapore.  Now we have to figure out a way to get them to send stamps to us!

What a Summer!

The total stamp collection from the first twelve weeks last spring was 25,027.  The summer collection totaled 19,093 for a grand total of 44,120 stamps.  Can we reach 50,000 in the next two weeks?  A tip from a family who collected thousands of stamps - post a large envelope in the bathroom where you work.  If you need a label explaining the project, email me and I'll send you a PDF.  Keep on collecting!  

Welcome Back

The new school year has begun and stamp collection here at school and in community business places will resume.  We will be updating this Blog so check in often.   Many children have been collecting stamps all summer.  Some of their collections are in the thousands and include many very old and interesting stamps.  We're excited!

Wishing for a million....

We were working on some pages about how much a million is when I answered a question about what I would wish for a million of. I originally wished for a million hours of free time. Then I found out how many days and years it would take by multiplying and dividing. I came up with 114 years! Finally I changed it to 1,000,000 minutes of free time. Please post on the blog if you can find out how many years 1,000,00 minutes is.
Posted by a student in fourth grade.

New Website - The Lonely Planet

The Lonely Planet site has wonderful continental and regional interactive maps.  Check it out! 

Celebrate 10,501 Stamps Collected to Date!

Celebrate!  We have collected over 10,000 postage stamps!  The stamps continue to come in at a fairly regular pace.  Thank you!

Research These Stamps

Help us provide information on the following stamps.  Post the information below in comments.

Do the Math

We have collected 10,501.

Round that number to the nearest thousand.  Use that number to answer the following questions.

1.  What fraction of a million stamps have we collected?

2.  What percent of a million stamps have we collected?

3.  How many more times will we need to collect 10,000 stamps to reach our goal of one million?

Be sure to explain exactly how you arrived at your answer.

Freerice Website Recommended by a Parent

Freerice, WFP's online vocabulary game that feeds the hungry, was recognized as an "outstanding" site by the 15th annual Webby Awards! Freerice has already provided enough rice to feed more than 4.6 million people.

Take this opportunity to tell your family about the amazing game that not only educates but also helps build a world without hunger - for free! www.freerice.com

I tried this site and I loved the map skills section. 

Do the Math

We have collected 9,388 stamps. 

1.  How many more stamps do we need to get to 10,000?

2.  How many groups of 10,000 are there in a million?

3.  This week 15 of 20 classrooms participated.  What percent of classrooms participated? 

Reminder: Explain how you got the answers.  If someone has already posted an answer and you can think of another way to solve the problem, post your explanation.  If you think that someone answered a question incorrectly, please kindly suggest the correct answer.

Week 7 Total Nearing 10,000!

We have now collected 9,388 stamps with 80 countries represented.  We are truly amazed at the quantity and quality of the stamps.  We love the grandparents who are going through the old mail they have saved over the years.  Thanks to them we have some very old stamps which we will try to feature on this Blog very soon.  Some parents are putting up collection containers for stamps where they work.  Great idea!  If you would like a label and an information sheet to attach to your collection container, email me and I will send you a PDF to use. 

We have had 764 pageviews of this Blog from the USA, Indonesia, Hungary and Thailand, using Windows (62%), Macintosh (32%), iPad (4%), iPhone, (1%) and BlackBerry (1%). 

Thank you to everyone who is helping with this major undertaking.  Keep on spreading the word and passing along a link to this Blog.