During the annual Pennies By the Pound Campaign, USD 490 schools raised $3,847.67 to donate to United Way of El Dorado. Each school hosted a competition Nov. 4-8, 2024, to encourage students and staff to donate change.
At the high school, STUCO sponsored Pennies by the Inch. Pennies were brought in by each grade level class during the week. On Friday, the classes competed to see who could lay down the most inches of their donate pennies before classes began.
The sophomores won with 10,320 inches. Their total amount collected was $156.74. Second place was the senior class with 10,200 inches and $237.55. Freshman collected $78.04 and were able to put down 6,516 inches. The junior class raised more money than the sophomores, with $195.01, but they only laid down 5,460 inches. The total donated from EHS was $806.84 and the Seminar class who collected the most was Mr. Miller’s with $118.88.
The middle school collected the most out of each of the buildings with a grand total of $1,506.47 donated. They competed by country—all students are assigned to a specific country for this year’s school theme. They got positive points for all pennies donated and negative points for any other change or dollar bills. Sabotage was allowed, so many students and staff members donated money in non-penny form to other country buckets to help their own country win. At the end of the week, Greece was the winner with 4,276 points.
Each of the elementary schools competed by class to bring in the most pounds worth of pennies and earn a pizza party courtesy of United Way. The total raised at the three elementary schools was $1,534.36. At Blackmore, Mr. Rhodes’ class won with a total of 77.3 pounds of pennies. At Grandview, Mrs. Barker’s class won with 141.6 pounds. Skelly’s winning class was Mrs. Williams’ with 26.8 pounds.
The United Way of El Dorado is dedicated to supporting local families, and these donations will play a crucial role in addressing the needs within our community.
