THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510210084
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The students at Churchland Elementary School emptied piggy banks and surrendered allowances for nearly a week to raise $1,700 for the United Way.
During the first week of October, students were asked to bring in pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday and quarters on Thursday. They were free to bring in any denomination on Friday.
``Those kids brought in Ziploc bags full of money,'' said school secretary Kathy Holland. ``There was just oodles of it. And I had to take it home every night, count it and roll it.''
On the first day alone, 12,000 pennies were collected from the 621 students in grades kindergarten through five.
``It took about four hours each night,'' said Holland. ``The bank loved me every day because I came in with heavy, canvas tote bags full of coins.''
The campaign was the brainchild of Assistant Principal Ann Horne.
``Each day we had an inspirational, energizing message on the intercom,'' she said. ``We also let the students know which classes were ahead so it helped build competition.''
Incentives of the edible kind, however, probably proved most effective: pizza for the classes raising the most money, ice cream for those coming in second and cookies for those in third.
According to principal Betty Bartlett, no monetary goals were set for the students at her school.
``We just told the children the benefits of the United Way and the things that they do for other people,'' she said.
``I don't believe we could have done any better if they had set a goal. It was far more than we expected. It was four times more than what they did last year,'' said Bartlett. In 1994, the school raised $400 for the United Way.
About half of the $61,000 goal for all 28 schools in the Portsmouth school system has been raised for United Way so far, said Jimmy Wiliford, a recreation specialist who is serving as this year's fund-raising coordinator for the schools.
``With our elementary schools this year, it's been a little difficult because we've had a lot of changes,'' he said.
``We've opened up three new schools and went to the community elementary school system . . . so it's really a little bit hard this year to put a finger on how the elementary schools are doing, compared to last year.''
Needless to say, Churchland Elementary plans to stick with the same fund-raising tactic next year.
``I think that will probably be a strategy henceforth,'' said Bartlett. ``We have very supportive families - parents that support the children and support the school.'' by CNB