Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100009
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELLISTON LENGTH: Medium
A bowl the size of a large whale.
How long would it take to count from one to a million without taking a break?
Twenty-three days.
If you stacked a million children one on top of another, how high would they reach?
Higher than an airplane flies.
The word "million" is a common one at Elliston-Lafayette Elementary School, where for two years pupils have been working toward the goal of collecting a million pennies.
They started with just one penny; now they have a little more than 143,000. Once the pupils collect all million pennies - that's $10,000 - they get to choose what to do with the money. Some children have suggested building a swimming pool, while others say they would like new air conditioners at the school. One pupil, 7-year-old Chris Wirt, said he would like a new playground, "so I could play and play all day."
To keep the penny drive from getting stale, Principal Denise Boyle has started a friendly competition.
Recently, the "Roll-a-Pennies" team competed with the "Lincoln-misers" to see which group of children had collected the most pennies. The Lincoln-misers won, but in the spirit of good sportsmanship, the Roll-a-Pennies cheered for them anyway.
Danny Woods' third-graders brought in the most pennies in the class-by-class competition - 4,109 - bringing the school penny tally to a whopping 143,005, or $1,430.05.
"This has sparked some good competition between the teams, and they're having lots of fun with it," Boyle said.
A bit of mystery and intrigue also surrounds the penny drive. Not long after the school started collecting pennies, an unidentified woman began dropping off penny donations at the school. She brought pennies in plastic baggies. She brought pennies in cans. Pennies were packed in folded umbrellas and brought in jars.
No one knows her identity (except perhaps the principal, who isn't telling!) and the children have fun trying to figure out who she is.
For now, they call her the Penny Lady.
They've seen the Penny Lady a couple of times. The children say she weighs between 109 and 240 pounds and is between 5 and 6 feet tall. Some say she has blond hair; some say it's brown.
Their descriptions might be a little mixed up, but the children all feel the same about the Penny Lady.
"She's nice, and she brings us pennies sometimes," said 6-year-old Tamara Harrison.
If you'd like to make a penny donation to the penny drive, drop by the school on U.S. 460 near Yagle Nursery, or call 268-2291.
by CNB