What started as a simple homework assignment turned into an impressive impromptu fund-raiser that raised $3,578 for victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

Burns Park second grade teacher Jewel Walters headed up the effort, and she said she was amazed by the response.

"I didn't expect us to raise that much," Walters said. "I thought $1,000 would be great. I was extremely impressed and surprised."

On Martin Luther King day, Walters had asked her students to think about how they could be like Dr. King and help those in Haiti. They came back the next day full of ideas. The students initially wanted to hold a bake sale, but because of the number of children with food allergies, they settled on the idea of a bazaar. They would sell small items such as candy, pens, notebooks and little toys to the other students in the school.

Parents of the students in Walters' class were asked to help their children procure items for the sale, and they responded by "showering the class with donations" of all kinds of merchandise, as well as cash, said room parent Pei Huang.

Students were also asked to bring in gently used toys that they no longer play with. One student made jewelry to sell, and another brought in his rock collection.

The students sorted the merchandise, parents priced the items and students drew posters and signs to promote the bazaar. The whole process took about two weeks from inception to the day of the sale, which took place all day Jan. 29 in the school auditorium.

"It was a lot of work," said Jacquelynn Holloway, 8, a student in Walters' class. "But it was awesome."

All grades took turns coming to the auditorium to shop. Many parents brought in cash or check donations in addition to the money they gave their children to spend.

"We sold all the items donated from the parents in just the morning, and Ms. Walter and I had to separately run out to buy more for the sales in the afternoon," Huang said.

The sale raised $2,182 in cash and checks, and TCF Bank matched the cash donation of $1,396, bringing the total to $3,578 for Haiti relief efforts. The money was donated to the Red Cross and to another organization in Haiti.

Student Lyanne Yeh, 7, said her favorite part was helping with the sale — holding up items and encouraging people to buy them.

Nathan Sprick, 8, said he thinks the money will be used to buy medicine, food and water for the earthquake victims.

"I saw a little bit on TV the day it happened, and everything was wrecked to millions of pieces," Sprick said. "This is going to help a lot."

Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. She oversees the Parenting and Home & Garden sections, and writes feature stories, blog posts and opinion pieces. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com.

All photos courtesy of Jewel Walters.