When Crane Country Day School’s eighth-grade students organized a Make-A-Wish concert last month to benefit the eponymous organization, they had no idea that the music would reign in $10,000 for the wish-granting foundation. It was a dream come true for the Crane class, and more importantly, for two local children who are the beneficiaries of the students’ charitable work.

Crane presented the check to Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties representative Trish Miller on Wednesday at a heartfelt, school-wide assembly.

“We are ecstatic to have raised so much money,” said Janey Cohen, Crane’s service learning coordinator.

She said the class goal was $5,000, but doubling that amount now enables two children with life-threatening medical conditions to receive their wish.

At Crane Country Day School, service projects are integrated into the curriculum and the classroom, and these projects are student-driven, empowering Upper School students by letting them guide the direction of their service experiences.

“I have learned so much about letting go of the need to control the service learning program, and we are now reaping the benefits of students exercising leadership and feeling confident in their ability to exact change on the world,” Cohen said.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties was an especially personal choice for eighth-grade student Brenda Rodriguez, whose younger sister Briana was diagnosed with cancer when she was 5 years old. Rodriguez said the Make-a-Wish Foundation was supportive and gave her family lasting memories by granting Brianna’s wish to go to Disneyland.

“It was the best five days of our lives!” Brenda said.

Briana is now a healthy, cancer-free second-grade student at Crane, and her big sister wants to give back to the organization that gave her family hope, help and joy.

The eighth-grade students created the idea to stage a concert fundraiser, called “The Wish Concert,” which was held on the Crane campus in April, and featured the music of Crane’s homegrown talent, including musical group Vibes, alumni student performers and Joel Jamison, the school’s resident musician and maintenance supervisor.

“Crane has a deep commitment to developing in students a lifelong interest in helping others in our community and across the globe,” Headmaster Joel Weiss said. “Doing service allows students to develop a concept of a world outside of themselves. It builds character.”

The overall objective of service learning is that the program be student-initiated.

“The power of student choice is becoming a greater theme at Crane,” Weiss said. “It’s one thing to have beautiful, orchestrated activities, but the real power comes into play when the students make the choices themselves. This takes much more time, but the end results are really powerful.”

And in this case, life-changing.

— Ann Pieramici represents Crane Country Day School.