USD 490 schools raised over $2,600 during their annual Pennies by the Pound fundraising drive to support United Way of El Dorado October 30 through November 3.
At the high school, each grade level competes in a Pennies by the Inch competition where they convert all donations into pennies and lay them out in a line to see who donated the most inches worth of pennies.
The senior class won with 9, 840 inches. Juniors took second place with 7,068 inches. Sophomores had 5,088 inches and freshmen had 4, 668 inches. The total raised was $1,281.71. This is the second year in a row the high school has raised over $1,200.
The middle school hosted a competition to see whose Seminar class could collect the most pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday, quarters on Thursday, and dollars on Friday.
The winning classes were Garbee with 231 pennies, 25 nickels, and 33 quarters; Vides with 105 dimes; and West with 23 dollars. The building raised $94.26 total during the week.
The elementary school classrooms compete to see who can bring in the most pounds of pennies.
At Blackmore, Mrs. Eldridge’s class won with 46.8 pounds of pennies. Mrs. Cogan’s class was the winner at Grandview with 180 pounds of pennies. At Skelly, Mrs. Briggs’ class won with 22.8 pounds.
Overall, the elementary schools collected 681 pounds of pennies, for a total donation of $1,232.61 to United Way.