Atwater Students Pony Up for Charity during Penny Wars

People typically don't make a game out of giving others their money, but at Atwater Elementary it became an outright battle, during the school's annual penny wars.

The fundraiser, this year for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, generated $1,352 in just five days. The effort led by second grade teacher Dan Zimmermann and the Atwater Student Council generated the money from pocket change, with the highest bill being a $20 “which caused quite a stir,” said Zimmermann.

The wars are unique in that it does not require a big event, and carries no expense or risk to hold. Each child had a little cardboard box to collect pennies. Every class also had a clear glass jar. The goal was to get the most pennies per class, while "sabotaging" other classes by putting money in their jars.

Winning the war didn't come after collecting the most money, but the best ratio of pennies to total. The class that made the most money, obviously, was a different story.

“... (The) fourth grade class was clever, and brought out all these pennies on the last day," Zimmerman said. "But they should have waited until after school or something, because kids got wind of it and by lunchtime they had a jar full of other money."

Zimmermann said he learned a lot from his first year participating in the penny wars. 

“At first, I had the kids counting money, stacking pennies in piles of 50, with their buddies," he said. "But it was a drop in the bucket.” 

He quickly realized that the sheer volume of money to be counted would outlast the day, let alone the 40-minute time period dedicated to this educational lesson. Despite having worked in the Air Force doing disbursements, the counting of 40,235 pennies plus larger change and some bills proved daunting.

“I learned the way to do it is to utilize the counting machine at the North Shore Bank," Zimmerman said. "They were very patient there, and lent me a cart for the 222 pounds of coins I brought over on Friday afternoon.

“The best part about it for me is that it’s a ’play to win’ and not a ‘what do I get’ kind of experience for the students,” said Zimmermann. “It gave me great pride to be able to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society not just the money raised, but also the $50 back that they offer for some kind of reward or pizza party. We didn’t need it; the students at Atwater understood the challenge and really got into it. That was the best reward.”

Here's how each grade level did, beginning with the penny wars champion:

Penny Wars