Horace Mann Elementary School fifth-graders have a newfound knowledge of college.

Physical education teacher Jeremy Noyes began a project at the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, using college sports as a way to talk to the students about the importance of going to college and the challenge they will probably face in paying for it.

The students talked about how to get into college and how they might pay for it. Noyes said he was pleasantly surprised to find that about a third of the class said their parents had started a college fund for them.

"It's an obstacle," Noyes said. "It's expensive now and will be even more spendy by the time they get there."

As part of the project, the students each researched colleges throughout the country, picked one and sent off a letter describing their goal to go to college someday, and asking for something from the college to remember their goals.

"At first, the (students) were asking why we were doing this, but once the stuff came, the excitement picked up," Noyes said.

And the stuff did come - posters, letters, jerseys, athletic bags, pom poms, T-shirts and banners - from schools including UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, the University of Connecticut, Kansas State University and Belmont University.

"The response was awesome," Noyes said.

Sports posters from teams throughout the country line the walls of the school gym - all individually sent from the colleges to the students in Noyes' class.

"I was amazed," said Abbi Maciejewski, who proudly held a Marquette University jersey up in front of the class.

A lot of the memorabilia came from athletic directors, such as at Notre Dame, not the public-relations department.

"That they would take the time to do that was meaningful," Noyes said.

The best part, Noyes said, is that the students will get to pick something from what their college sent and take it home. A handful of the students that didn't hear back from their college will also get to choose something.

"I want them to look on their wall and remember where they got it from," Noyes said.

He particularly wants them to think about why they did the project, he said, which was to spark an interest in college while they are young.

Maciejewski said she already knows where she's going to college someday: South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

"I can be close to my family, and it's a good school," she said.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com