Robin D good point I would probably do the same thing!!!!

I already found an elephant trace to make a board and the trunk I make as long as I need so I am so excited. I will putting of the elephant facts and pictures our elephant friends.


THanks ladies.

Ok.. confessions of a PTO exec person.. LONG before I was on the board.. I always sent in " pennies" for the Pennies for Kids collection.... as did other parents.. since i wasn't involved, I really didn't know what they were for, my kids just came home shouting " we need pennies"... so the coin cups would get dumped out.. and the pennies would get taken to school...... the school usually raised about $150 for this campaign........

THEN... I became a board member.. and realized WHAT these pennies were for.. and how easily we could make more money if we just changed the name of our drive to " Coins for Kids".. in one year we went from $150 to about $700.....

I KNOW it sounds silly.. but people don't pay much attention to the flyers, and sometimes just take things " literally".. like I did......

so while I LOVE the name Pennies for Pachyderms.. just be SURE you have some cute catch phrase underneath like...

" elephants are BIG and would appreciate BIG coins like quarters, nickels and dimes, too.. and if you send in paper money, we'll be sure the elephants won't eat them.. thinking they are grass.."

or something like that........

My son's school did this when he was in kindergarten. It was a k-5 school. Each grade was a team and the teachers/staff was a team. They used five gallon water jugs. Each day the PTO wheeled a cart to the cafeteria doors and everyone dropped their change in on the way to lunch.

Actually, since all teachers escorted their classes to lunch, they collected from the kids in the room, separated the pennies from everything else, decided which team would get the 'everything else' that day and dropped it in the right jug on the way through. Having the teacher do it for the whole class instead of the individual kids doing it saved a lot of time.

I found some guidelines - just in case anyone is interested:


Penny Wars is a game to be competed between schools or grade levels/home rooms. The object is to get as many points as possible during the "war." The money raised during the penny war can be donated to a local charity of your choice.

1. The project is run for any FIVE, CONSECUTIVE SCHOOL DAYS.
2. Each home room or class will need a large, enclosed container. A sealed, one gallon plastic milk container, with a slit large enough to insert coins and bills, works quite well.
3. Each container is labeled with the name of the class teacher, a room number, or any appropriate identification of your choosing.
4. The containers should all be placed in a central locations where there is some adult supervision. The school library or a location in clear view of the office staff are good choices.
5. Students from class put their pennies in their class' container. One point is received for every penny in the container.
6. Classes may put other coins and paper currency into the containers of OTHER classes. Each silver coin or bill reduces the number of points from that container by the amount of the coin. (e.g. a nickel reduces the points by five, a dime by ten, a dollar by 100, etc...) This is where strategy counts. Have fun with it!
7. Containers are emptied and counted daily. The total monetary amount of silver coins and paper currency is deducted from the total number of pennies for the day.
8. The totals for all classes are posted daily to encourage friendly competition. The totals can be posted as tallies. A chart, blackboard or whiteboard, in a central location, works well for these postings.
9. A rotating pennant or cup, given to the leading class each day, adds to the excitement of the project. The pennant or cup can be retained by the home room or class with the most overall points at the end of the penny war.
10. It helps to have a committee organized to count and roll the coins. Try asking a friendly local bank to help with the service.

I like the theme. Is it going to be a traditional collection with everyone just bringing spare change? We've never done one, but I always loved the idea of a "Penny War" that's been discussed on the Boards.

Apparently it's a fundraising contest where each class has a separate container for change. Pennies count towards team/class as positive amounts, but other coins count against you (so you drop those in someone else's container). I can see where it would be a lot of fun if held in good spirit. Has anyone else done this?

Then again, you could have a lot of fun with just a regular one.

Don't forget University of Alabama - Roll Tide, Roll.... (although I am officially declaring Auburn, I still love UA's Elephant mascot)