Shortly after the school year started in September, Brockport Hill School students in Mary Radack and Karen Carges' third grade class began collecting recipes from their families and friends. The students hoped that cookbook sales would fund an adventurous field trip to Niagara Falls.

One hundred-forty recipes and a couple of marathon typing sessions later, the eight and nine year olds had enough profits to take their trip and then some. Selling for $3, the cookbooks earned enough money for the 23 students to go to Niagara Falls and tour the Butterfly Museum, the Welland Canal, see a show at the Imax Theatre, ride the Maid of the Mist and the Spanish Aero Car over the the falls. Oh, and dinner was included, too.

There was still enough money left over to go bowling and to see "The Grinch" at the Strand Theater. But along the way, the students decided they wanted to do more than have fun with their earnings; they wanted to share some of it with those less fortunate.

After researching several charities, the students decided to donate $100 to the Volunteers of America. The donation is enough to provide emergency shelter, food and clothing for three families. "That really appealed to them," Carges said.

Compiling the cookbook allowed the two teachers to sneak in some language arts lessons on letter writing, editing and proofreading and some math lessons on tallying and profits. Students also worked on technology skills - keyboarding, searching for graphics and designing the cover.

"The kids worked really hard and then saw the benefit of that hard work," Carges said. "And it was nice they decided to share some of that benefit with others."