STUDENTS RAISE $146 IN PENNIES

FRUITLAND -- When students at North Elementary School decided to help animals at the Humane Society, they put their hearts -- and their pennies -- into the effort.

Each year, Linda Blankenship's first grade class does something to mark its 100th day of school. Students make trail mix with 100 chocolate chips and nuts, or gather 100 small items into a bag.

A few weeks ago, Blankenship read an article about collecting pennies for charity and decided to incorporate something new into her lesson plan.

"We're doing an animal unit and studying money, so this was perfect," she said. "The boys and girls thought it was a terrific idea."

Her students drew a poster for the hallway, asking others to donate pennies to the Humane Society. The money jars got heavier and heavier, becoming difficult for first-graders to drag back inside the classroom.

They collected from Jan. 23 until Monday, the 100th day of school. By then, the jars weighed 91 pounds. As part of their learning, students counted the pennies in units of five and ten. When they reached $26 after hours of work, Blankenship decided to leave the job to a bank.

Unfortunately, the bank's coin counter broke down Thursday, but employees estimated the amount at $146.

Even though they didn't know the amount of their donation, first-graders at North learned the money would go for dog beds at the Humane Society.

Volunteer coordinator Annette Fenwick brought a puppy, temporarily named "Petey," to teach them about pet care.

Blankenship said the estimated 14,600 pennies collected attested to students' love of animals and concern about each others' educations.

"This is such a unique school," she said. "We only have one class in each grade, and everyone knows each other, so we all pull together for good causes."