TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas school children have responded to a legislative call to raise funds to help restore the cabin where the state song, "Home on the Range," was written.

Senate leaders say that students from Horizon Elementary in Shawnee and Jayhawk Elementary in Mound City are the first to turn in their money, raising the first $500 to restore the historic building.

The cabin near the Smith County town of Athol (AY'-thuhl) in north-central Kansas is where Dr. Brewster Higley wrote the poem "My Western Home" in 1871. The poem began to circulate and was eventually put to music.

Legislators helped launch the "Coins for the Cabin" drive in February. The program challenged students, teachers and administrators to raise money for the project while learning more about the history of the state and the song.