BMS pays it forward in coins

MEEKER I Barone Middle School held a coin war Dec. 5-10 to raise money for the Giving Tree in Meeker. The coin war was a competition between classes to see how many points they could accumulate. Pennies were worth one point and silver coins were negative points if put in the other team’s jar.
The seventh graders were the winners. The fifth, sixth and eighth grades all finished with negative points as the theme of the game seemed to be defensive play. The primary battle took place between the fifth and seventh grades as they schemed strategies to win. Overall, the goal was not to win the contest but rather raise money for a great cause. The students raised $635 they will donate for three kids on the Giving Tree.
This contest was designed as a part of the seventh-grade’s Pay It Forward program to encourage students to give positively to their community and do random acts of kindness. The class comes up with different ideas for participation. The coin war idea came up in November, with time to complete the challenge in time to help with the Giving Tree.
Earlier in November, the students also had a competition to gather canned food for the local food bank. Approximately 1,000 non-perishable items were collected by the middle school students. The fifth-grade class brought the most items and were rewarded with a pizza party.