ACORN Monthly

This past week, the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) students hosted their first school-wide service project of the year, combining efforts to help those both near and far. The project included a Food Drive for the Don Bosco Center in Kansas City and a spirited Penny Wars competition to raise funds for hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina and Florida.

The energy and excitement throughout the week were contagious as students across all grade levels enthusiastically participated. Penny Wars brought out everyone’s competitive spirit, with students strategically adding pennies (positive points) to their own buckets while sneakily dropping silver coins and dollars (negative points) into other classrooms’ containers. Each day, NJHS members tallied totals, emptying buckets and resetting the stage for another day of friendly rivalry.

By the end of the week, the results were nothing short of amazing!

Congratulations to the 6th Grade, our overall Penny Wars winners! 3rd Grade was not far behind, demonstrating their determination to stay in the race. A special shoutout goes to the Pretoddler class, who brought in 1,100 pennies all on their own!

Final Penny Wars Standings:

• 1st Place: 6th Grade (-6,041 points)
• 2nd Place: 3rd Grade (-8,007 points)
• 3rd Place: Preschool (-8,954 points)
  (See below for all class results!)

In addition to Penny Wars, the NJHS Food Drive collected donations for the Don Bosco Center, which provides meals to families in the Kansas City area. NJHS students worked hard to gather and organize food from classrooms, ensuring that every contribution made its way to those in need. The Don Bosco team will pick up the donations later this week, with every extra item still trickling in making a difference.

Thank you to everyone who supported this week’s efforts—whether you donated pennies, silver coins, dollars, or food! A special thank you to Kristin Smith for helping get every last cent counted at the bank.

The NJHS students showed just how much can be accomplished when a community comes together for a shared purpose. They not only raised vital funds and donations but also set an incredible example of service, teamwork, and compassion.

Total Funds Raised: $2,229.11
Total Impact: Immeasurable.

We couldn’t be prouder of our students, staff, and families for making this project such a success.

All class results for this year's Penny Wars!

*Pretoddler participated in their classroom and brought in 1100 pennies!