Some students like to monkey around in school. But a third-grader at Commodore Perry Elementary School takes her monkey business seriously.

Dallas A. Knierman of Georgetown Road in Deer Creek Township decided to take on a project to raise money toward the care of a gorilla at the Erie Zoo for a class she was in at school.

But an 8-year-old raising $500 in six months was a lot easier said than done.

"I was basically flabbergasted. I tried to talk her into doing something like volunteering at a shelter in Meadville, but she insisted on doing the adoption of a zoo animal," said Teresa Knierman, the girl's mother. "I told my husband I guess we're along for the ride because I guess she's going to do this."

030509