Students and staff at Riverside Early Learning Center; Butler, Duncombe, Cooper and Feelhaver elementary schools, Fort Dodge Middle School and Fort Dodge Senior High raised $9,056 during the 2019 Miles of Pennies Campaign.

“We are so happy that this year was another huge success for our schools,” said Fort Dodge Community Schools Foundation President Jennifer Pederson. “I love seeing the creative ways staff encourage students to participate, from class wars to dress up days and pie-in-the-face contests, each school did a great job of raising money.”

The Miles of Pennies Campaign has been running for more than 30 years in the Fort Dodge Community School District. Schools collect any change (not just pennies), paper money and checks. The Fort Dodge Community Schools Foundation worked with First State Bank to collect and count the money, then redistribute it to each school. The FDCS Foundation also kicks in a $100 bonus for each school that meets its goal.

2019 Miles of Pennies amounts raised and how the money will be spent are as follows:

• Riverside Early Learning Center raised $672 for headphones.

• Butler Elementary School raised $1,931 for headphones and reading and math intervention materials.

• Cooper Elementary School raised $1,746 for books for small group instruction.

• Duncombe Elementary School raised $1,059 for educational games to be used for indoor recess.

• Feelhaver Elementary School raised $1,653 for Makerspace games and toys.

• Fort Dodge Middle School raised $2,720 for fourth- and fifth-grade transition events.

• Fort Dodge Senior High raised $175 for literacy books.

The 2019 Miles of Pennies Campaign ran April 8-26.

The mission of the FDCS Foundation is to help students and education go above and beyond what district funding allows with grants for professional development, technology and other educational items.