Nearly half a million pop tabs have been collected by one classroom of about 20 students at Eastside Connections School in Niles.

And the kids are not done yet.

“We want one million,” said first-grader Brooklyn Jenkins.

The pop tabs currently reside in two large steel drums and giant lime-green storage totes inside Bonnie Prenkert’s first-grade classroom.

Her students began collecting the pop tabs in December as part of a class project that also doubles as a fundraiser for the local Ronald McDonald House, a charity that provides a place for families to stay free of charge when their children are patients at South Bend Memorial Hospital.

Students visited the Ronald McDonald Room in December to see first hand what their hard work would be going toward.

“It’s important because kids want their parents by them when they are in the hospital,” said first-grader Scarlet Thalman.

How does a group of around 20 first-graders collect so many pop tabs?

Students say they’ve gotten lots of help.

Niles New Tech students have been collecting pop tabs and giving them to Prenkert’s class. Other classrooms at Eastside have been doing the same.

The first-graders are also collecting items like shampoo and soap for the families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House.

“The kids have responded really, really well,” Prenkert said.

As of Wednesday, the class had collected 472,000 pop tabs. Prenkert said they kept track early on by counting each tab. As the collection grew, students began weighing the pop tabs. A pound equals 1,267 pop tabs.

Prenkert said the project is a good example of the project-based learning concept used at Eastside Connections.

For instance, students weighed and measured the pop tabs, and made posters explaining the project, its purpose and its methods. They also wrote letters to area businesses, asking them to match the amount collected in dollars, or to make another type of donation.

One million pop tabs will generate about $475, Prenkert said.

The deadline for collecting pop tabs is March 13. The class will present their project to parents and the public from 6 to 8 p.m. March 25.

“The only limits that children have are the ones we place on them,” Prenkert said. “When I said one million pop-tabs was a lot and might be very hard to reach… they couldn’t see a limit. To them, every tab makes a difference and every tab is helping other families.”

Those interested in donating pop tabs, supplies or money to the cause, should bring the donation to Eastside Connection School, 315 N. 14th St.