We have finally done it all. We raised $2,000 for imagination Library and we have given each winning class their pizza and trophy. This project was a huge success and I'm very proud of it. I wouldn't change a thing. I don't know what we'll do next but hopefully it'll be as cool as everything we've accomplished so far.
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Monday We have our winners. At New Palestine Elementary, NPE, fifth grade came in first followed closely by fourth grade. The fifth graders won by 84 points. A legit 84 cent difference. So they'll be getting a pizza party as well as a trophy. As for Brandywine, Brinker's class won! So they will be receiving a pizza party and a trophy also. We called a bank today! First Merchant's Bank has agreed to count our pennies for free! Instead of having us set up an account with them they're writing cashier's checks so we can donate to Imagination Library. We can also more accurately count each school's money this way which is great. We're allowed to take in two jugs of coins per day. So we'll be doing that for the next week or so. Sugar Creek started their penny wars today. We got more dollars and quarters than we did pennies. Not that I'm complaining. They're easier to count but it's also tougher to figure the class points since the way the wars work are that pennies give positive points and everything else is just negative points. Oh well, Money is money and it is only Monday. I'm sure it'll pick up. Tuesday We had someone from the Hancock Community Foundation come by today to pick up some of our money so they can count it and we won't have to have the bank do all of the work, although we still had to take some money to the bank today. Grace and Allison actually had trouble carrying their bucket and they ended up dropping it, leaving Grace with some cuts on her arm. The fifth grade winners at NPE are going to have their pizza party on Friday! We're ordering the pizza tomorrow and will have it delivered there on Friday. I emailed Mr. Brinker about when he wants to have his class' pizza party and we'll know once he gets back to me. Things are a little messy at Sugar Creek but everyone is trying their hardest. We went today to count the money and there isn't nearly as much as NPE and Brandywine have been giving us but, then again, it is only the second day. I think people there are just confused about what's going on. I sent out a mass email to the teachers in order to clear it up a bit. We're going to take that money to the bank tomorrow then drive to Brandywine and return their buckets. Wednesday Today we ran some Sugar Creek money to the bank and we got back one of the numbers for NPE; $1087.87. That's not even all of it. I think we may have raised close to $4,000! That's crazy. I feel like this started out as a "maybe we can get $300" thing. Today I emailed the people at the HCCF and they have yet to get back with me but hopefully tomorrow. I finally finally FINALLY called the trophy people. They said we could get the trophies for about $30, which isn't bad. I emailed them with more detail but they also have yet to get back to me. It would be nice if people emailed me back, you know? Brinker and NPE are both having their pizza parties this week. We ordered three pizzas for Brinker and those will be delivered on Thursday at 12:10. As for fifth grade we ordered their pizzas to be there Friday at 1:20. Sugar Creek isn't done yet but we're getting there. I think NPE probably raised the most money. Sugar Creek hasn't exactly communicated super well with us but we're making it work. Once HCCF emails me back we'll have good totals for each school. Since it was a half day, we didn't have to count at Sugar Creek. It's feels weird not counting pennies after school. Tomorrow hopefully we will have some people email me and we can count more of Sugar Creek's money. Thursday We went to count some more at Sugar Creek. It isn't a lot but it is steady. NPE's pizza order was a little lacking and we had to order another nine pizzas for them. We have the trophies finally ordered and they will be ready by Monday. Friday
We counted the last of the pennies today and Sugar Creek raised around $350. In total we've raised a little over $2,000 for the Imagination Library! It was hard work and we're still not done. We have to order the pizza for Sugar Creek still and pass out the trophies. Monday This week our Penny Wars at all the elementary started and it's off to a shaky start. I don't think Sugar Creek was really in it to win it because the teachers didn't even know that it was supposed to happen this week. Sugar Creek's principle emailed me today saying that they'd like to start next week. So that's a relief but now we're faced with a new problem; they want us to provide containers. Doesn't sound like much but when you need 35-40 plastic buckets, preferably for free, the pickings get slim. Tuesday The kids at NPE are finally getting more into the Penny Wars. We had a lot more money today than we did Monday. We made the signs better and put some flyers around for parents to read. Sugar Creek has agreed to start their Penny Wars next week and we're still thinking about ideas for buckets. Wednesday We drove out to Brandywine today just to check up and see how their Penny Wars were going. We hadn't really heard from them all week so I was expecting a situation like Sugar Creek but when we got there they had buckets lined up and they were very full. It took us almost an hour and a half to count all of them. Later that day, after school, we went over to count at NPE. It was a lot. Like stay there for almost two hours a lot. Our fingers had actually turned a blackish brownish color from handling so many coins. Half way through counting I found a coin sorter that counted everything for us and it was probably one of the happiest moments of my life. After that things went pretty quickly and NPE's principle let us take the coin sorter to use at Brandywine bless her heart. Also, Sugar Creek got back with us saying they could use the same buckets they use for Riley Hat Days for the Penny Wars. So that's another problem solved. Thursday Grace left early today, during her study hall, to go to Brandywine and count there. She's been there for almost an hour now and even with the coin counter it's taking a while. Brandywine is really going all out for this. Each of their buckets is fuller than most of the buckets have been at NPE. It might just seem like that because they have smaller buckets. I'm going after school to NPE to count and then we only have one more day. We really need to contact the trophy people because on Monday we'll be announcing the winners and that's also when Sugar Creek will start their Penny Wars. Hopefully NPE will let us use their counter. Fingers crossed. I went to Grace's after work because she was still counting pennies. We finally finished them a little after 10:30 which was crazy. It was our biggest day yet. NPE had a huge haul and so did Brandywine. Friday
This morning was rough. We had to try to carry these huge bins of pennies inside and up the stairs. We stopped a couple of guys and they ended up carrying them for us. Maybe chivalry isn't dead. We have the money from each school separate so we'll be able to know how much money each school raised. We're thinking about calling some of our local banks to see if they'll waive the fee of counting up the pennies since it is for a charity. We've been counting but we don't have exact amounts. We went after school and got the pennies from both Brandywine and NPE. Since it's their last day we're taking the jugs home to count and will have the winners. Some people from our class are volunteering to help count in order to get service hours. Next week Sugar Creek will start their penny wars and we'll be a little bit more prepared for it. Oh, and the trophy place? We still need to call them. Until next week... We presented to our administrators and, honestly, it was a little weird. I've never seen all of them in the same room but the strangest part was getting to talk to them about our ideas as adults rather than students. I wasn't telling them why iron has different charges or about a book we read. Sometimes I forget that I am a senior and that I will be living on my own in less than a year. This class makes us have to go out and talk to people and plan things and overcome problems. We have to do so as adults, not students.
Overall, our presentation went really well. We communicated our ideas clearly and people seemed to think the project would be a success. We had some helpful feedback from one of our counselors, who advised us to fix a typo on one of our flyers. Oops. We are planning to have the Penny Wars the week of September 18th through the 22nd and the kickball tournament on September 29th, the night of our homecoming game. We initially chose this project because Mr. Large suggested it but it quickly turned into something that we could enjoy and we became very passionate about it. The Imagination Library Program gives free books to children under the age of five so they can enter their school system at a healthy reading level. Many kids don't even pick up a book until they're in kindergarten, whether that's because they don't have access to books or can't afford them. The Imagination Library Program fixes that. We're trying to do our part and help.
Their goal is to raise 2 million dollars. Obviously, we didn't set out to raise 2 million dollars as cool as that would be. Instead, we are shooting for around 500$. We hope to plan a Penny War, a way of raising money, at each elementary school in our district. In addition, we're going to try to host a kickball tournament at our high school to raise money as well. |
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I am a senior at New Palestine High School and I probably have a calculus test Friday. ContactEmail me at [email protected]
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