The Oxford Central School has been bustling this month with two exciting events.

Pictured above, OCS has just concluded their 10th annual “Pennies for Patients” charity drive to support the work of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The entire school raised $1,477 for the research and advocacy group, bringing their total fundraising count for the past ten years to more than $10,000.

Pictured are the students from Rosa-Marie Solomon’s 4th grade class. They raised more than $200 alone, the largest collection of any class in the school. Students are pictured on the front steps of OCS with the school nurse, Barbara Svercauski and their teacher.

The collection was part of OCS’s CORRECT character education plan, which promotes citizenship and responsibility. “Pennies for Patients” has been an integral part of the program to promote helping others, said Bob Magnuson, Chief School Administrator.

Photo courtesy Bob Magnuson.

Second and fourth graders also had a special visitor on March 9: A therapy dog named Frita. A big hit with students, Frita and her owner/trainers, Caitlin and Ian Denzer-Weiler (a teacher at the school), spoke to the children about training and owning a therapy dog.

The students have been learning all about therapy dogs in their classes. The fourth graders just finished the book “The Right Dog for the Job,” by Dorothy Patent, and the second grade classes have been learning about the many ways that therapy dogs can help people with disabilities.

Pictured to the left are Frita with owners Ian and Caitlin Denzer-Weiler.