COLUMBUS - The penny drive at St. John's Lutheran began as a way to raise money to buy two $500 mountain bikes for missionaries in Africa. Children brought weekly offerings to school starting in September and had gathered more than $450 before their penny drive began. On Dec. 1, the “penny war” started with a Jan. 31 “truce” date. The prize for the winning classroom was a pizza party.

Each class had a large jar in which to put pennies. Pennies counted as positive money. Any amount of paper money or silver coins put in the jar was subtracted from the penny total. Family, friends, and congregation members contributed to the jars to help a class - or sabotage one. Students could be seen forming a line and walking to another classroom with quarters, dimes and nickels, not to mention the occasional $20 bill.

Using a precise method, Karlie Kudrna counts Wednesday afternoon just a fraction of the thousands of pennies raised by St. John Lutheran students in a two-month period. The church and school had the fundraiser to purchase bikes for missionaries serving in Africa. Telegram photo by Blaine McCartney

In the end, the Big Room won. They secretly saved all their money and turned it into $150 worth of pennies, which they brought in on the last day. The Little Room was crushed, and the Middle Room was shocked at the cleverness of the winners. Because the students raised an additional $1,044 through the penny drive, everyone will get pizza Monday.

“Losing never felt better,” said Phillip Oehlrich.
Austin Kapels said: “(We) probably got as much money during the penny drive as it took to get my braces.”
In the spirit of Larry the Cable Guy, Sawyer Birtell said: “We got'R done.”
“Whoooo! We won!,” Lauren Kapels said. “Either we got a lot of money or I'm seeing double with my new contacts.”
Heidi Stockmeier, Big Room teacher and perhaps a “Survivor” fan, summed it up by saying “strategy wins the game.” (Note...Mrs. Stockmeyer is not a "Survivor" fan...)
Jessi Kapels, a kindergartener said she was “excited to give money to missionaries so they can tell others about God. They will be the real winners.”
TO READ THIS ARTICLE FROM THE COLUMBUS TELEGRAM LINK, GO TO:
http://www.columbustelegram.com/articles/2007/02/01/news/news1schoolpennies.txt