Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany A. Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) =

Jordan Bennett, a sixth-grader at = Jackson Junior=20 High School in Jackson, turned in the $500 he found in the = school's=20 parking lot in early December and got his name added - twice, for = honesty-=20 to the school's 100 point board.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Below, from left, Amber Loyler is proud = of her=20 son, Jordan, for turning in the $500 he found in his school's = parking lot=20 in early December. The money belonged to Tawny Thornhill, right, a = campus=20 supervisor at the school, Jackson Junior High.

Photo by: Bethany A.=20 Monk
Jordan Bennett, 12, found a wad of = cash=20 outside his school recently and didn't hesitate about what to do with=20 it.

"I saw a couple dollars on the ground and when I picked it = up, it was=20 hundreds. I said, 'We should turn this in,'" Jordan said. He told his = mom about=20 what he found, adding that all he could think about was that it could be = someone's Christmas shopping money.

Jordan and his mom, Amber = Loyler,=20 were about to drive to his orthodontist appointment the morning of Dec. = 3 when=20 he saw the small stack bills on the ground through the car window. He = and his=20 mom were parked outside the school ready to make the trip. After he = picked up=20 the money and went back in the car, he and his mom were shocked to learn = he was=20 holding $500 in his hand.

Earlier that day, Jackson Junior High = School=20 campus supervisor Tawny Thornhill rushed to get to her shift at the = school, and=20 now remembers placing her cash between her knees while driving. It's not = something she usually does, she said. Normally, she puts her money in = her=20 pockets. But that day, she was pressed for time.

Later, during = one of=20 her shifts at the school, she reached into her pocket for the money and = found=20 nothing. The empty pockets threw her off. She panicked. Then she = remembered she=20 never put the money in her pocket. It could be gone for good, Thornhill = thought.=20 The money, she said, was for grocery shopping and to purchase a few = Christmas=20 presents after work.

Still on her shift at school and retracing = her=20 footsteps in her head, Thornhill got a call from the office. Someone = turned in=20 something they found near her car. It ended up being the $500 she = thought she'd=20 never see again.

"There was a really cool guy who turned it in," = she=20 said, adding that she's impressed and grateful for Jordan's actions. =

A=20 few days later, Thornhill called Jordan into her office at school and = surprised=20 him with a card and $25 as a "thank you."

Word spread quickly of = Jordan's story and soon teachers and students were commending him on his = act.=20 The school's principal, Janet Pabst, added two points in Jordan's name = on the=20 school's 100 point club board - a tic-tac-toe-like board with students' = names=20 instead of X's or O's. Students have their names added to the board when = they do=20 good deeds; Jordan got his points for honesty. When there's a = "tic-tac-toe" on=20 the board, the entire school gets a pizza party.

Jordan had to = wait until=20 after his orthodontist appointment that day to turn the money into the = office.=20 He wanted to turn it in before he and his mom left for the appointment, = but it=20 would have made them late. "The whole time at the orthodontist = appointment, he=20 was worrying about the person who lost the money - he was concerned = about their=20 Christmas," Loyler said.

She's proud of her son.

"It's = the=20 sweetest thing ever," she said of his honesty. "There are not to many=20 12-year-olds who are going to be worrying about the welfare of others."=20

His action has inspired other students, Thornhill said. Students = have=20 been coming to the office more often to turn in items they've found that = don't=20 belong to them.

"Today, you wouldn't find that honesty in some=20 grownups," said Lana Loyler, Jordan's grandmother, adding that she calls = Jordan=20 her hero. "He was so worried about that person not having a=20 Christmas."

The best part about it all is seeing his confidence = "in doing=20 the right thing," Jordan's mom said.

"A lot of my friends said I = should=20 keep the money," Jordan said. "I told them, 'that's messed up.'"

Bethany A. = Monk