The check for $2,654.57 was presented to Ron Newsum, head of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight, during the school’s Veterans Day ceremony Friday.

Justin Daggett, Manson Northwest Webster Elementary School principal, said this is the third year students have raised money for the Honor Flight, but this is the most money they have ever raised.

Daggett said that money will be able to pay for four veterans on the flight, which takes veterans to the nation’s capitol for a day, where they get a tour that includes stops at various war memorials and monuments.

The money was raised in a variety of ways, including what Daggett referred to as a “Noisy Giving.”

Students would bring change to school and put them in pots and pans. At the end of the day, the change was put into a water jug.

“We ended up filling that whole jug,” Daggett said.

An additional method was a fundraiser put on by fifth- and sixth-graders.

“Our fifth- and sixth-graders organized a silent auction and a bake sale and they sold some bandannas,” he said.

Daggett said this was also the first year the fundraiser was opened up to all students. Previously, only fifth- and sixth-graders participated.

“It was really fun to see the whole building and community get behind this effort,” Daggett said. “And the kids were just so proud of themselves for what they were able to do. It was a great opportunity to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

At the Veterans Day ceremony, Daggett said he was approached by multiple veterans who told him how touched they were by the students’ support.

“It was just a very proud moment for all of us,” he said, “and a humbling experience to know we’re doing something that’s giving back to people who have served our country.”