Today’s project called for pocket change. I don’t keep change in my pocket, or even in my purse. Somehow a bowlful of change has accumulated next to my bathroom sink, and there are always a few coins on top of the dryer. Otherwise, my metal money goes to an orange coin purse I keep in the car, ready for parking meters and the occasional vending machine.

So this morning I grabbed that little pouch and dumped the contents on to my desk. The challenge? Make something worth more than what I could buy with that stash. That’s some pretty broad territory. But one word jumped quickly to mind:

Last week my Facebook friends were buzzing over news that four years of study at the University of Illinois will run more than $100,000. At the same time, our snail mailbox began filling with marketing materials from colleges all over the country, targeting my son the high school sophomore. Timing is everything.

Together, my husband and I have four teenage boys approaching or already in college … and two little girls who will come up before we know it. As college and university price tags get bigger and bigger, how on earth will we help these six young people afford an education?

I do believe we’ll need to get very creative with the change in our pockets …