EVANSDALE - Fourth-grader Noah Cary has been learning how to weave potholders in class.

Although the Jewett Elementary School student has enjoyed the activity, he admits it sometimes tries his patience. "It's really kind of frustrating to make the potholders," he said.

But he has found a way to cope: "When you want to quit, just think of the soldiers."

That's the reason Marsha Fisher's students began weaving the potholders in the first place. They were raising money for phone cards being sent to Iowans serving in the military in Iraq. Throughout December, they sold them to students, parents and staff at Jewett for $1 each or three for $2.50.

As the Christmas break approached last week, they had raised almost $60.

The phone cards were sent in holiday cards to the soldiers as part of an effort organized by a group of John Deere employees, called "Iowa's Bravest," which is sending packages to the troops. Students also wrote letters that accompanied the cards. Fisher's class got involved through organizer Julie Ehlers, a Big Sister to student Brandi Smith in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Smith was one of the top weavers in the class, making 15 potholders. Morgan Zimmerman and Kenneit Johnson both made 18. The students made the potholders by hooking loops of colorful cotton material onto a square plastic frame and then weaving other pieces through them.

Her students took to the project right away. "They do really well, and they've learned how to remove them from the frame," said Fisher. She liked the service aspect of the project, because character building "isn't always a part of our overt curriculum."

Not everybody excelled at the weaving, so some students were put in charge of marketing and selling the potholders. Some of the students made posters advertising the potholders while others approached students and staff in the lunchroom to pitch their product.

"It's been interesting, because we've used a couple of books about how a business is run," said Fisher. "It really helped in building responsibility."